Chapter 323: A spiritual stove that had never appeared before (I)
Before their departure, Ling Xiao had given the ten Demon Hunters designated to enter the Illusory Paradise detailed information about their possible future encounters inside.
Generally speaking, the Illusory Paradise would be rather peaceful and they would just encounter the magical beasts guarding the spiritual stoves they’d find. However, some special circumstances could also appear. For instance, if the concentration of killing intent was too intense in the Illusory Paradise, it could very possibly cause changes to the surroundings.
The Illusory Paradise would produce approximately twenty spiritual stoves every single time, but before these spiritual stoves were truly absorbed, they would remain masterless objects. And that was to say, even if one had temporarily absorbed a spiritual stove, in case he died, the spiritual stove would regain its freedom.
Ling Xiao had told them about a story that had happened once, around three hundred years ago, when the Illusory Paradise had opened. At that time, differences had risen among the people from the Temple Alliance, and they had resulted in an intense battle. That time, a change had happened in the Illusory Paradise, and that change had started on the second day, ending with only two people who had returned alive.
Furthermore, Ling Xiao had told them sincerely that the best method of gaining a spiritual stove in the Illusory Paradise was rather to gain the approval from the magical beast acting as its guardian. This dependable method would also enable the humans inside to avoid infuriating the Illusory Paradise.
However, this time it didn’t end so peacefully. The demon’s slaughter was bound to enrage the Illusory Paradise. Perhaps the spiritual stoves they already gained were not few, but in case a change appeared on the second day, only those possessing Illusory Gems like Long Haochen or Cai’er would be able to leave prior to the end of the period of three days.
Long Haochen gathered his comrades, including Zhang Fangfang, and talked with them about the possible changes Ling Xiao had told them about.
“Since the situation is like this, I estimate that the Illusory Paradise will very likely show some changes. In case this happens, we will also face an incredible crisis. Since we have already obtained four spiritual stoves, if we leave this place now, it can be considered a fruitful trip. But in case we stay, we will very possibly be unable to leave even if we want to do so later. We will have to wait for the end of the three day period to leave. Should we leave or stay? Decide, everyone.”
“Of course we should stay. This is an opportunity that arises only once a century! Who would not be willing to take a risk to gain some more spiritual stoves?” Lin Xin said without any hesitation.
Sima Xian twitched his mouth, saying with disdain, “What a miser you are! However, I also think we should stay.”
Everyone from the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad soon came to the same decision. They wanted to stay.
In the end, everyone finally looked at Zhang Fangfang, who declared with a smile, “Since you all have decided to stay, I will very possibly be able to obtain a spiritual stove, so I am naturally willing to risk my life with your noble group. Although I feel that staying is a dangerous choice.”
Zhang Fangfang’s greatest quality was his sincerity. Long Haochen could feel that he was a straightforward person and spoke from the deepest parts of his heart, thus he had acknowledged him since long before.
That’s right, choosing to stay was undoubtedly quite dangerous. But Long Haochen was also inclined to make this choice, and it was for a simple reason, they had a way out.
It wasn’t the Illusory Gem, but the Tower of Eternity. As long as Long Haochen was given enough time, he would be able to take his comrades covertly inside the Tower of Eternity to get them to survive in case of excessive danger. By the end of their time in the Illusory Paradise, he would just have to come back with Cai’er to leave for the exit.
For this reason, no matter what kind of danger they met, they would have a way out.
Slightly pondering, Long Haochen took out his Illusory Gem, handing it to Zhang Fangfang
“Brother Zhang, we can at least be considered good friends. You are above us all in standards, but didn’t take account of our former enmity and even assisted me several times. Take this, it is an Illusory Gem. In case you encounter a danger you are unable to resist, no matter in which state the Illusory Paradise is, you can get transported back by relying on this Illusory Gem, getting away from the danger.”
Zhang Fangfang showed some surprise, “Something like this exists? You’re giving it to me, but isn’t it of use to you too?”
Long Haochen smiled calmly, “Although Brother Zhang didn’t say it out loud, I know that you have some doubts deep inside why my team is here with me. However, this is the secret of my team, and I cannot tell you about it. But what I can tell you is that since I managed to bring them here, I can bring them out as well. Be at ease, this Illusory Gem is something you have to take. It can be used to save your life at the most crucial time.”
Zhang Fangfang muttered to himself irresolutely, “Okay, then I won’t be overly modest.”
Then, he took the Illusory Gem with alacrity.
After they finished eating their rations and started to rest, unfortunately, a change happened in the whole Illusory Paradise.
The surroundings flickered as it seemed that the fog covering the boundless forest became thicker, until condensing into dots of light spreading in all directions. Slowly, the Illusory Paradise’s illusory feel was replaced by a sense of reality, and the life energy became stronger from that. However, a somber and desolate atmosphere arose.
Daybreak.
When the first signs of the morning light started to show, Long Haochen jumped up with alarm.
Before starting to rest, they had planned for everyone to take turns to hold vigil, and the one currently keeping watch was Lin Xin. However, he was currently staring up, as if looking at an inconceivable sight.
His sound of alarm had immediately woken up everyone, who stared at him, unable to hide their absolute shock.
Their shock was due to the changes in the sky. There, they saw a dense multi-colored cloud float, encircled by a soft fluctuating energy. This dazzling magic cloud was very moving, and from its core, a colored luster slowly dropped down.
Even the radiance of the sun became softer because of that magic cloud. And all the life energy inside the Illusory Paradise seemed to rotate around it.
“Is that… a spiritual stove?” Zhang Fangfang cried out in astonishment.
In the midst of that magic cloud was a glint of light that appeared even larger than those released by the other twenty spiritual stoves they had seen the day before. And from this, it could be seen how abnormal this spiritual stove was compared to others.
Unconsciously, all looks focused on Long Haochen. The most knowledgeable in the group regarding spiritual stoves was him.
However, all they saw was a bitter smile from Long Haochen, “I don’t know about this spiritual stove either. Out of everything my father had told me about spiritual stoves, there was nothing like this. If this is really a spiritual stove, then there can only be one explanation. This could be one that has never appeared in the continent before, a brand new spiritual stove.”
Shock was reflected on all faces. They were in fact all Demon Hunters, and remembered as such an unbound rule in the Demon Hunt Mission Tower.The feat of discovering a new type of spiritual stove that had never appeared before alone would be rewarded with a hundred thousand contribution points.
From its first issuing to now, this mission had only been completed five times, and this was a mission that had existed since the very beginning, going on from generation to generation.
No one would know about the power of a completely new and unknown spiritual stove, but since it appeared in the Illusory Paradise, and moreover by its own, how could this multicolored spiritual stove possibly be weak?
“What are we still waiting for? Let’s head out!” Chen Ying’er said with excitement and full of impatience.
“No, wait.” Long Haochen stopped the others that had started to get restless, “Don’t you find this very strange?”
“Mh?” Everyone looked at him.
Han Yu said with a serious tone, “It appears very strange indeed . Yesterday, Captain told us that some change would very possibly appear in the Illusory Paradise, and today, such a mystical scene appeared in front of us. Perhaps this is really a spiritual stove, but it may also be an enormous trap to lure us.”
Zhang Fangfang nodded in response, “I agree. How could we be attracted to fight each other without a sufficient enticement? Even if the Illusory Paradise didn’t set any traps, this multi-colored spiritual stove moving so slowly in the sky, with its location being in full sight, we will not only meet our allies there, but also some demons for sure. Haochen, what’s your opinion about that? ”
Long Haochen looked at the multicolored brilliance moving slowly down from the sky. After pondering shortly, he declared, “Going there is unavoidable, even if it’s only to save our fellow comrades who came here with us. However, I need to warn everyone once again, if you run across some powerful magical beast, no one is allowed to attack it. Even if they take the initiative to attack us, we have to stay on the defensive. This is an important directive, that no one can ignore. Otherwise, it will very possibly waste all our previous efforts.”
Hearing the serious tone of Long Haochen, the others nodded in succession, expressing their approval.
After a short time of pondering, Long Haochen had Zhang Fangfang and Han Yu stay together, handling the defense in the rear, while the rest of the formation didn’t change. Under his lead, everyone headed directly in the direction of that multicolored mass descending to the ground.
After advancing for less than a hundred meters, Long Haochen suddenly stopped in his tracks, “Has anyone found traces of those colored patches of fog? They seem to have disappeared.”
Everyone looked around and indeed, the very peculiar shining patches of fog glowing in all colors had all disappeared. The surroundings only looked like a huge ordinary forest with a rich vegetation and nothing more.
Long Haochen declared in a deep voice, “It looks like we weren’t mistaken, a change is really happening in the Illusory Paradise.”
“Boss, what should we do?” Sima Xian asked.
Long Haochen lifted his hand, handing Bright Discipline to Han Yu behind him, as he took out the Glorious Holy Shield for himself, “We still have to advance. Don’t forget what I said before, no one is allowed to attack the magical beasts.”
Cai’er followed behind Long Haochen all along, observing his confident lead with a gentle look. As expected, her intelligence and her perception were no lower than Long Haochen’s. However, she just willingly acted as support for him. She wouldn’t meddle in his decision unless Long Haochen was doing a fundamental mistake in his lead. Trust was after all built during this kind of difficult experiences.
This was a perfect example of something appearing to be seemingly close, while actually being very far away. In truth, they travelled for a whole hour in pursuit of this multicolored cloud, but were still unable to discern traces of the pieces of light falling into the forest.