Xia De looked down at the text Iluna had copied:
"One, angel-level relic 【Fountain of Youth】, controlled by the Witch Council, lost;
Two, liquefied sage-level relic 【philosopher's stone】, a few organizations such as the Creation and Destruction Church, the Sun and Earth Church, the Zaras School of Spellcraft, and Saint Byron's Comprehensive College retain precious samples, which cannot be lent out;
Three, moonlight water, liquid formed by the purest Moonlight;
Four, World Tree's pond, could be traded with elves in the fifth epoch, but the pond has dried up in the sixth epoch;
Five, event-type relic - inconceivable-grade relic 【Holy Rain】's rainwater. The occurrence of this event has a probability of leading to the end of civilization, suspected to be related to the end of the third epoch."
Xia De paused:
"What kind of relic is this?"
Iluna added:
"The event manifests as golden rain falling from the sky. This liquid has immense destructive power against any evil force. Any creature that comes into contact with this water will transform into a winged cannibal monster within two to three hours. These creatures cannot be eliminated; even if their corpses are burned to ashes, they will resurrect within 24 hours. There is no way to reverse this effect."
Xia De uneasily skimmed this text. Every inconceivable-grade relic is directly related to a God. While "Holy" can expel evil, "excessively Holy" is clearly not right either.
"Six, Pond No. 13. Hmm? Why is there no description for this one?"
Xia De asked suspiciously. Iluna regretfully shook her head:
"Although my authority is very high, I cannot see all information. I wrote to my teacher from when I was in the Church, and she told me that 'Pond No. 13', like the relic 【Itchiness】, will bring curses or something even more terrifying upon anyone who knows its specific information. I am only PentaCircle now, and the Church does not grant me access to such information... But Mr. Hogg Lundell of Sunlight Greatsword told me that Pond No. 13 is related to demon transactions and advised me not to be interested in it."
"Demons, indeed, one needs to be cautious."
Xia De nodded:
"Seven..."
He only read out the number, then saw that the following was a row of sentences stained with pen ink. The letters were covered by standard rectangular black ink blots of equal height; even if Xia De deliberately tried to draw them, he couldn't make such perfect rectangles.
"What does this mean?"
"Restricted content, only known to those authorized to read the information. When I try to speak, write, or otherwise disseminate the information, it automatically conceals itself. The seventh type of sacrifice involves some Church secrets, and I don't have the authority to speak about it."
Iluna said, adding with some regret:
"I know the content, so I'm very sure that even if I told you, we wouldn't be able to find it."
"So there are only two left."
Xia De continued to read with great concern:
"The eighth type, Secret keeper-level relic 【Water Cube】-soaked morning lake water."
"This relic can infinitely generate clean water. As long as it's not consumed continuously in large quantities, the water produced won't even cause much harm to the human body. The negative characteristic is that while the relic's effect can be activated at any time, stopping it requires sacrificing at least 1,000 living people. Yes, 'at least', you know what that means."
Iluna continued to inform Xia De about the characteristics of these strange relics.
"Where is this relic now?"
Xia De asked again:
"I don't need it to produce water, just to soak some water."
"It's in the crater of Mount Fatis, between the New World and the Old Continent, used to suppress an ancient evil sealed within the crater..."
She hesitated for a moment, not speaking the evil's true name:
"Even if we could find other ways to seal the evil, traveling between the archipelago and the Old Continent would take several weeks."
Iluna knew Xia De wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
"The ninth type, the water of the Mysterious Lake."
This sentence was already written at the bottom of the notebook page. Xia De continued to turn the page and found that the next page contained a short poem, written in the language of the late fifth epoch that Xia De had learned.
"'Mysterious Lake' is not a name, but rather the members of the Old God cult at that time did not tell the Church the lake's true name. It is said to be a lake hidden in an unknown space, and under certain conditions, even ordinary people can enter directly from the material world. This poem describes that lake. My ancient language isn't very good, I hope I didn't copy it wrong."
The seventeen-year-old girl said shyly. Xia De shook his head and read the poem aloud:
"Lake in the forest,
Island in the lake,
Water on the island.
Pave the way with wisdom,
Prove it with courage,
Guide with talent,
The white-robed Sage,
Awaits the arrival of souls."
After reading, Xia De looked at the words in the notebook hesitantly. Iluna asked cautiously:
"Well, does this description give any clues? If not, I'm afraid we'll need to look up more information. Compared to the first eight, at least the ninth sacrifice seems possible to find."
"Is this the original text?"
Xia De asked, and Iluna nodded:
"Yes, the parchment photographs I saw were written like this, but those photos cannot be lent out either."
"Look, what is the pronunciation when you connect the first letter of each line of this short poem?"
Xia De handed the notebook to Iluna. Under the gaze of Xia De and the cat, the girl, who was not good at ancient languages, blushed and struggled for a long time before pronouncing:
"Record book?"
"This is the pronunciation of a second epoch word, Cherub."
If Priest Augustus hadn't read out the name of the Cherub, Xia De wouldn't have known what the pronunciation formed by these letters referred to. If Iluna's pronunciation was like Mia trying to imitate a dog's bark, then Xia De's was like Huntington's white mouse speaking in a human way.
"Lake Cherub?"
Iluna also knew what Xia De had been looking for recently; she had given Xia De many clues at the time.
"Yes, the water from the Lake Heart Island's inner lake in Lake Cherub. I actually have some, it's in the basement, but... isn't it too much of a coincidence?"
He seemed a bit disbelieving, handing the notebook back to Iluna. This time, Iluna comforted Xia De:
"Luvia and I have said that there are no coincidences in this world, only countless inevitabilities forming inevitability. Were you enticed by someone else to visit Lake Cherub?"
"Of course not."
Xia De immediately shook his head, and the seventeen-year-old brown-haired girl smiled and said:
"When a Chosen One appears, it seems all surrounding events become related to him. cherub, the Sage's test, wisdom—perhaps this isn't a coincidence you caused, but an inevitability caused by the fourth Chosen One."
Xia De understood Iluna's meaning. He looked at her with some surprise, and Iluna shyly averted her gaze:
"Are you surprised I'd say something like that? Xia De, although I don't understand fate like Luvia, I am a Chosen One after all... It's not just Luvia who can give you guidance."
It was clear that saying this made her very happy.
The seventeen-year-old girl pointed to her head:
"wisdom, I possess it too."
"You're right, thinking about these things is meaningless."
Xia De smiled and nodded:
"In that case, the second trial of the time key is over... Iluna, how can I thank you?"
Iluna was about to say there was no need for thanks, but then her peripheral vision caught the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, so she stammered and changed her mind:
"Since it's almost noon, how about you treat me to lunch? In this snowy weather, we don't need to go too far. I remember there's a good restaurant at the street corner. We can walk down the street together, the weather today is not..."
Just as she was about to say 'not bad', her peripheral vision caught the heavy snow outside:
"This is the biggest snowfall I've seen since coming to Tobesk. My hometown is further south inland in the kingdom, and it rarely snows in winter."
After speaking, she pursed her lips and looked at Xia De with her lively eyes. Mia, probably having understood the word "lunch," stood up and meowed at Xia De, then was picked up by Iluna.
Xia De couldn't refuse Iluna and the orange cat's suggestion.
The heavy snow that began on Thursday afternoon continued until Saturday afternoon, only completely stopping when Xia De went to Doctor Schneider's clinic. While heavy snowfall is beautiful in the Poet's writing, it actually causes significant problems for the City.
Tobesk officially entered the deep winter season, and this silver-clad appearance would last until march 1854. Jobs in the City would become increasingly difficult to find, and for the poor living at the bottom of the City, the coming period would be another difficult time.
Xia De had not left home during this heavy snow. After having lunch with Iluna on Friday noon, he stayed at home. And apart from Saturday morning, when Leia sent her maid with condolences and apologies for his gas poisoning and unconsciousness at the Prophet Association, no one visited Saint Delan Square Six during this period.
As for the study session on Saturday afternoon, nothing interesting happened either. The group members did not discuss what happened on Wednesday evening, simply acting as if nothing had occurred.
Doctor Schneider tirelessly emphasized again that today was the thirtieth day of the frost descent month, which was the end of the second-to-last month of the year:
"I haven't received the specific schedule for this year's exam week yet, but it will either be the last week of this year or some day during the Year-End Festival holiday. This year is crucial for our group. Although we've agreed not to set off for Saint Byron's in these few years, the promotion exam is still important. It will determine our group's standing in this region and the intensity of the College's cultivation for us. Gentlemen, ladies, please take it seriously!"
The Doctor seemed more anxious than anyone, but the other members of the group were accustomed to it.
"He's like this every winter."
Besides the Doctor, Dorothy, the oldest in the group, whispered to Xia De:
"It'll be fine once Priest Augustus gives the Doctor a tranquilizing potion. Doctor Schneider is a Psychologist himself, yet he's always so anxious about exams."
This phenomenon, in the psychology of this era, was called "pre-exam anxiety," a problem that even Ring術士s could not avoid.
