Chapter 2194 Traces
Meanwhile, Fang Heng was still swiftly flying through the high altitudes of the forest.
The higher he flew, the thinner the air became, significantly increasing the pressure on his flight.
Fang Heng felt that he was already flying at a very high altitude, yet he could still see layers of roots and leaves ahead.
Unable to do anything about it, in order to maintain his high-speed flight, he had to slightly lower his altitude and navigate through the layers of forest.
This actually made him faster.
After nearly two hours, with the Prayer Temple coordinates in sight, Fang Heng descended from the high altitude and landed on a thick tree branch, surveying his surroundings.
He found it!
Among the thicket, not far away, a quaint temple of the tree spirit tribe came into view.
Fang Heng leaped down from the branch, reverting to his human form as he landed outside the temple, surveying the surroundings of the Prayer Temple.
It seemed there were no guards?
Fang Heng felt a cautious alertness rise within him as he cautiously approached the temple step by step.
Until he stepped into the inner region of the temple.
Still, there was no sign of movement.
Fang Heng looked up at the entrance of the temple.
The entire temple exuded a serene feeling.
As if no one had been here for a long time.
Fang Heng reached out and gently pushed the door open.
Closed?
Fang Heng frowned, applying force with his hand.
"Snap!"
A slight sound and the latch behind the door broke.
Opening the door, Fang Heng stepped into the courtyard in front of the temple.
Directly facing the courtyard was the hall of the Prayer Temple, with scattered buildings behind it.
"Weird..."
Fang Heng observed for a moment, murmuring to himself quietly.
According to Raven, the Prayer Temple was where the tree spirit tribe's guardians resided. Generally, tribe members wouldn't enter without good reason, unless there was a significant event or a member with a badge of merit came to receive the tribe's blessing.
But now, there wasn't a soul in sight?
Where did the tree spirit tribe go?
Fang Heng couldn't help but recall Sandy's various speculations about the tree spirit tribe.
It seemed that the tree spirit tribe had encountered major trouble internally, which led to the sudden closure of the Inner World.
Very strange.
Even if Sandy's guesses were correct, and the new generation of sacred tree seeds hadn't been cultivated, would that really mean the entire tree spirit tribe was finished?
Moreover, there were no signs of forced entry into the Prayer Temple by outsiders.
What on earth was going on?
Fang Heng couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling his thoughts becoming a bit chaotic.
Well then!
Since that was the case, he would search for it properly!
With a thought, Fang Heng's facial features melted like a candle, quickly transforming.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Magic arrays appeared around him.
Summoning over five hundred Lickers, Fang Heng switched back to his simulated character status.
The Lickers swiftly formed flesh cocoons on the ground, then reverted to their normal zombie forms.
"Go..."
Fang Heng pointed towards the depths of the Prayer Temple, instructing his zombie clones to search carefully as they entered the main hall of the temple to investigate.
Soon, game hints began to refresh one after another.
[Hint: Your zombie clone (vine form) has searched the fixed area and found a broken wooden bowl*1.]
[Hint: Your zombie clone (vine form) has searched a fixed area and found a prayer talisman woven from vines*1 (damaged)...]
The zombies stacked the collected miscellaneous items in the courtyard and began another round of searching.
"Not bad..."
Fang Heng muttered softly, observing closely.
Ritual magic array!
Upon entering the main hall, Fang Heng immediately noticed a large ritual magic array arranged on the floor to the right.
Approaching for a closer look, he found several special recesses on the magic array.
Examining one of the recesses, he noticed that its shape perfectly matched the emblem Raven had given him earlier.
Fang Heng squatted down to inspect the magic array.
It was a super-sized multi-combination ritual magic array.
It would require at least 24 people to operate.
A rough analysis suggested that part of the ritual magic array's function was to absorb natural energy.
Although Raven was painting a rosy picture, he wasn't exactly deceiving himself.
But now, lacking the tree spirit tribe to conduct the ritual magic array, he couldn't fulfill his promise with just the emblem...
[Hint: Your zombie clones (vine form) search the fixed area and discover the Prayer Temple's historical records (2891)...]
Historical records?
Fang Heng's attention was caught by the hint that popped up in the game, and he felt a stir in his heart.
This might hold some clues!
Returning to the courtyard, Fang Heng rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous items collected by his zombie clones and pulled out a thick record book. Opening it, he carefully read through.
Indeed, as Raven had mentioned, the Prayer Temple had been used by the tree spirit tribe for centuries for rituals, nurturing the sacred tree, and imparting strength through prayers.
It was not just any member of the tree spirit tribe who could receive this power; only outstanding individuals who had made significant contributions to the tribe were allowed to receive it.
"The tree spirit tribe's trickster..."
As Fang Heng continued reading, he could not help but mutter curses under his breath.
He had just praised Raven for being trustworthy, but now he realized he had been fooled again.
The ancient books detailed that only members of the tree spirit tribe were allowed to inherit the power from the Prayer Temple!
Even with the emblem in his possession, as he was not a member of the tree spirit tribe, he had no chance!
Fang Heng felt quite displeased.
Although he hadn't held much hope from the beginning...
Being deceived always left a bitter taste.
Fang Heng silently took note of this lesson and continued flipping through the book.
Most of the records in the book were related to the daily activities of the Prayer Temple.
For example, prayers conducted in certain years and months, or unusual phenomena that occurred at certain times.
Unlike Sandy, Fang Heng quickly lost patience after flipping through a few pages, so he skipped to the end.
There was no mention in the ancient books about the closure of the passage to the Inner World.
It only stated that one day, the Prayer Temple received orders from the tree spirits' Elders Council to temporarily close, and all members of the tree spirit tribe were to return to the Elders Council to report.
It looked like something had happened to the Elders Council.
What kind of trouble did they encounter?
The entire tree spirit tribe has been urgently mobilized?
Fang Heng pondered.
Unconsciously, when he looked up again, a pile of miscellaneous items had been thrown in the courtyard in front of the main hall.
The zombie clones had already searched the entire Prayer Temple.
With the maximum level search skill, the search was thorough, leaving no corner unchecked.
Fang Heng walked to the rubbish pile and flipped through it, finding quite a few books scattered inside.
At the moment, he couldn't determine if they were useful.
Seeing the books, Fang Heng felt a headache coming on.
Forget it, he'd take them all back and let Sandy take a look.
He loved delving into this stuff when he had nothing else to do!
With that in mind, Fang Heng controlled the zombie clones to gather all the collected miscellaneous items and began transporting them back to the tree spirit tribe.
Next...
Putting down the books, Fang Heng pondered for a moment.
It was unlikely that he would find any clues by going to the remaining Prayer Temples.
So should he go back to the tree spirit tribe and try to get some information from Senzo?
While he was contemplating his next move, Fang Heng suddenly sensed someone approaching from afar.
Someone's coming!
His vampire bloodline sensed the lifeblood ripples approaching from a distance.
Was it the tree spirit tribe?
Judging from the lifeblood ripples emanating from the approaching figure, it was undoubtedly from the tree spirit tribe.
Fang Heng thought for a moment, then immediately concealed his aura and hid in the shadows.