Today was Wednesday, and Xia De was to enter the Gap with the Witches to deal with the seal on the mountainside. Therefore, for safety, he carried the Night Watchman and god's gift box with him.
Mia was currently being looked after by Dorothy. Yesterday's lesson taught Xia De that it was better not to bring that bothersome cat when going on adventures.
After meeting the Old Witch at the Cassandra Auction House with Miss Aurora, the group, including the Witch's followers, set off into the mountains.
Although the location of the seal hidden by the Witch Emperors on the mountainside was known, the Witches opening a passage to the Phantasmagoria and using it to reach the Gap was not possible just anywhere.
The actual "door" was still a long distance from the passage on the mountainside. After entering the Gap, they still had a long way to walk.
Besides Xia De, everyone on this trip was a Sorceress above Hexacle. To prevent the death power in the Gap from damaging their bodies, Grandma Cassandra had acquired several complete branches of elven wood at a high price. To ensure the correct time, in addition to Xia De's Time Perception, Miss Aurora's follower also carried the Poet Grade (Level 5) relic, the "Unbreakable Time Hourglass."
This relic was quite famous, and together with the "Stone for Detecting Gravity" and the "Dillon Kingdom Flag for Sensing Wind Direction," it was known as one of the most useless Poet Grade relics.
In short, after all preparations were complete, everyone gathered in a clearing in the autumn forest, surrounded by fallen leaves. Xia De was in the very center, which also served to protect him.
Miss Aurora held Xia De's left hand, and Grandma Cassandra held his right hand. As the two Great Witches softly chanted, the surrounding deep autumn forest with its fallen leaves gradually blurred.
It was as if a richly colored oil painting had been splashed with water. After the colors blurred, everything in their vision turned into vibrant color blocks. These color blocks were not static; instead, they constantly merged, deformed, and changed colors. This caused many incredible illusions to appear before their eyes. Something indescribable seemed to lurk within the rich colors, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be just a wonderful combination of changing color blocks.
Time and space twisted here, and the door to the Phantasmagoria was opening. But the group's destination was not the Phantasmagoria. Therefore, before the space completely shifted, a dense white mist, representing the Gap, surged out from the Gaps between those color blocks.
The mist almost instantly completely obscured their vision, and then, as the mist gradually thinned, the Between Life and Death, with only black, white, and gray colors, reappeared before Xia De's eyes.
"Outsider, you have left the world of the living."
"You felt Miracle, blasphemy, inspiration, whisper."
"Note, the Gap is more repellent to the living than before. Even with the protection of the youth everlasting leaf, do not stay here for more than 900 days."
The prompts in his ear kept coming, and the "900 days" limit also reminded Xia De that this place was already very different from when he last entered. One should know that last time "she" said he could stay here for a thousand days. Although it was only a one-tenth difference, given the strength of Xia De's soul in his Divine Radiance state, this was quite incredible.
Having arrived in the Gap from the real world, the surroundings still looked like a forest. However, the scene of autumn leaves covering the ground, golden everywhere in reality, had turned into a terrifying sight of dreadful withered trees standing tall and muddy ground everywhere.
It was extremely quiet all around; there wasn't a single sound. The sky was covered by gray mist, and in the distance, only a vast expanse of white mist was visible. This mist was very similar to reality; the two were truly gradually overlapping.
Upon entering the Gap, the recovery of a living person's spirit and physical strength would greatly decrease, and soul power would become more prominent than physical power.
Therefore, although he felt a little out of breath, for Xia De, it was as if he had broken free from shackles at that moment, and his own strength had once again climbed a step higher.
In contrast to him, apart from the two Great Witches, the other Sorceresses all showed various abnormal reactions.
However, Ring術士 above Middle-Ring adapted quickly to the Gap. Therefore, after slightly adjusting their states, as numerous Destiny Rings appeared in the steam, the effects of Miracles and spells such as vigilance, defense, counterattack, reconnaissance, detection, and illumination unfolded orderly around the group.
The two Great Witches, on the other hand, used the power of Witches to unfold a massive dark-gold ritual array. This was the spell "Defensive Spirit," but it could usually only be attached to objects like doors. Xia De had never heard of a "Defensive Spirit" that could surround and move with a group of people.
"How do you feel?"
Before setting off, Miss Aurora specifically asked Xia De about his condition.
"Not bad."
He said, his voice muffled as he held the leaf in his mouth:
"Better than normal."
Although he had entered the Gap the day before yesterday, which was Monday, at that time, there were large Red Butterflies fluttering around, and the scene was not terrifying at all, but rather somewhat dreamlike.
But at this moment, truly walking with the power of mortals, Sicar Mountain in the Gap was even more terrifying than the City in the Gap. The grotesque withered trees in the mist were like bones reaching out from the dead underground, and the various forms of souls floating in the distance seemed as if they would pounce on the living at the next moment.
Compared to the last time Xia De ventured into the Gap alone, this time they encountered more attacks. A continuous stream of 亡魂, like a tide, was attracted by the vitality of the living and then eliminated by the Ring術士's counterattack Miracles.
Even Middle-Ring Ring術士 could not easily eliminate these evil spirits now. The team of more than twenty people, plus the two Great Witches, actually spent six hours in the Gap to reach the cliff where the entrance was hidden.
During this time, even Xia De joined the battle, replacing the Sorceresses who were exhausted from continuous fighting. Although he was only Low-Ring, the Night Watchman in his hand caused very obvious damage to the evil spirits. Holding an angel-level relic, he did not appear to be a burden among his companions; instead, he was able to stand on his own and participate in normal combat.
During these six hours of mountain travel, Xia De tried his best to avoid using Moonlight-type Miracles and only used the Night Watchman to fight. The cold weapon combat techniques inherited by this sword were taught to Xia De in this way. Even if this sword were to leave Xia De after the Middlesburg incident, he had already benefited greatly from it.
"Aren't you tired?"
The cliff was right in front of them, and Xia De returned to the crowd from the periphery. Miss Aurora looked at him suspiciously. The Witch's hand was glowing with a dark golden light, which was key to maintaining the "Resist Undead" spell. The two Great Witches were going to enter the deepest part of the Gap later, so they had not made a move during the journey, choosing instead to conserve their own energy.
"Not too tired."
"Are you sure you're okay? When you charged forward just now, you were even more enthusiastic than my follower."
"Of course I'm fine. Oh, Sister Devlin helped me some time ago, letting the Phoenix's flames burn my body, thereby improving my physical fitness."
Xia De replied. Miss Aurora became even more puzzled:
"Being burned by the Phoenix's flames has that effect?"
"No? That's what the stories say."
"Stories also say that bathing in dragon blood can make you stronger."
The Witch said what Luvia had once said, sizing up Xia De with a teasing look:
"But there's no harm in having better stamina."
