Ji Yijun and Catalina stayed at the hut on the top of the mountain, watching Morey bending over, wearing gloves, holding a bottle, slowly pouring some black powder onto the ground. His brows were slightly furrowed, his lips were pursed, and he looked very focused. His hands were sometimes waving, sometimes shaking, and he precisely controlled the amount and position of the powder. His smooth and flowing appearance was like a Chinese painting master painting. Before long, the powder gradually formed a magic circle with a diameter of about one meter.
"Arcadena powder is what we alchemists use most often to measure the surrounding magical environment." Seeing that the most difficult and important part of the magic circle had been completed, with only some minor details left, Morey finally had time to explain a few words to the two onlookers, "When a good alchemist completes an important experiment, he will definitely use it to survey the surrounding environment to see if the space is pure enough and whether there will be any residual magical energy from the outside world that will interfere with our experiment."
"I didn't expect that you alchemists are so rigorous, almost the same as scientists. However, looking at what you are doing now, it is hard to tell whether you are an alchemist or a scientist." Ji Yijun said.
"Alchemists are the scientists of this world," Morey replied. "The things we explore may be slightly different, but our methodologies and goals are very similar."
He raised his head and said with some pride: "It's all to get closer to the essence of the world."
Ji Yijun shrugged, appearing to be indifferent.
Morey shook his head and said, "You don't understand, so you can't be any of them."
"That's not necessary. I don't want to stay in the lab every day. Just having you guys here will do." Ji Yijun glanced at Catalina who didn't say a word, but saw admiration in her eyes. He thought to himself: This girl likes nerds.
Morey used powder to outline the last corner, then took out a lighter from his pocket and lit a fire in a corner of the magic circle.
"Shouldn't you alchemists use magic wands or crystals?" Ji Yijun pretended to be a magician and showed off by posing with a branch.
Morey looked at him like he had found a fool: "Why would I do that?"
"Because it's cooler?" Ji Yijun maintained that posture.
"That's stupid. Only fools will be fooled by appearances. Smart people will always choose the simplest solution." Morey said mercilessly.
"Besides, I think Morey looks much cooler using a lighter than you do." Katarina added a timely and insightful comment.
The magic circle ignited a faint white flame, burning along the lines drawn by the powder. After a while, the flame weakened, but the magic circle emitted a soft white light, covering the entire hillside in a hazy halo.
Ji Yijun looked around and saw some colorful lights faintly appearing in the white light, some were very small and shallow, and some were very large and deep. These light groups were like jellyfish floating in the white ocean, slowly flowing around the three people.
"What are these?" Ji Yijun stretched out his hand to grab a ball of light, but his hand passed through it without any feeling of touching anything.
"This is the residual energy mark." As Morey explained, he took out a pen and a notebook and began to record the results of this spell. "Depending on the different energy properties, different colored marks will be left behind. The strength of the power used is indicated by the size of the light ball. These colorful small light balls are mostly magical elements that exist naturally in nature."
"Then this is the remnant of the spell from that day, right?" Catalina said, pointing at a dark purple light ball floating at a height of about one meter.
Morey carefully circled the purple ball of light several times, looking it up and down, and then said in a cautious tone: "Yes, but this is not a trace left by a magician, but something more troublesome, divine power."
"Divine power?" Ji Yijun and Catalina repeated the same sentence at the same time, but their tone and mood were completely different. Ji Yijun's tone expressed only pure confusion, but Catalina's tone contained shock and fear.
"You mean, the God of this world intervened in this matter?" Ji Yijun asked.
Morey shook his head slowly and said, "Magic is a neutral energy. When it is attached with the remnants of God's will, it becomes divine power. The two are very similar, but divine power has certain special properties. Those priests, priests, holy warriors or those favored by God who believe in God devoutly will have divinity when they release magic, but this does not represent God's will and behavior. I estimate that there is a great possibility that God's spokesperson intervened in this matter. However, even if that is the case, it is already troublesome enough."
"Is he the priest of the god of nature in this world?" Ji Yijun twisted his mouth with a look of disgust.
"Maybe he is the god of nature, but he could also be a believer in the ancient gods." Morey thought for a while and said.
"I heard that the ancient gods have all fallen?" Ji Yijun asked.
"Yes, but even so, true believers can still obtain their remaining power. However, these people have been strangled by the people of the Temple of Nature for many years and rarely show up."
"Wait, I remember now!" Ji Yijun slapped his head, "Luo Ling told me about the slave camp. She guessed that the priests of the Temple of Nature were behind it. Could it be that these people haven't given up yet?"
"This is in line with their style. 'A lioness lurks in the deep grass, lingering and waiting for the right opportunity'. This is the famous saying of Augustus, the priest of the Golden Branch, two hundred years ago. He secretly planned and formed alliances, and finally dismembered a disobedient principality."
At this time, Catalina interrupted quietly, "You, you just talk about the messenger of God directly? Even... God?"
Ji Yijun raised his eyebrows, "What? What's the problem? Are you a believer in the God of Nature?"
Katarina waved her hands nervously and said, "No, but at least I respect the God of Nature. In addition, many mercenaries believe in the God of Nature, or, or... the God of War." When she mentioned the God of War, she naturally lowered her voice. A fallen ancient god, one must be extremely careful when mentioning him.
"It seems that you are still brain-smooth. Only the weak like to have gods standing over their heads, while fools like to have charlatans riding on their shoulders. If these people don't have someone to hold them down, I'm afraid they won't be able to survive." Ji Yijun's tone was full of mockery.
Morey said, "Be careful what you say! Although many magicians have similar ideas as you, they won't say that publicly. After all, this is a world where gods really exist. If you yell like that in a tavern, it probably won't end without bloodshed."
Ji Yijun raised his head, patted the sword at his waist, grinned, and looked very excited.
Morey sighed and decided not to argue with the young man. He said, "I think you should have some clues now and can continue your investigation. These clergy are different from ordinary believers. Their devout beliefs require them to pray to God frequently."
"You mean to find the place where they pray and wait for them? Where do the people in the Temple of Nature like to pray? What about the believers of the God of War?" Ji Yijun asked.
"People in the Temple of Nature are close to nature. They usually find the largest and oldest tree in the nearby forest, draw the emblem of the God of Nature on the tree, and then pray to the emblem." Morey said, "As for the ancient gods, I don't know. You know, whether we are magicians or alchemists, most of us only believe in our own strength. To us, God is just an irrelevant and powerful existence."
"I only know that some mercenaries would offer sacrifices to the God of War. Usually they would put two weapons, such as two swords, cross them and stick them in the ground, and then they would pray to the God of War."
Katerina made a move with two branches, then began to sing softly:
"Wherever the sword points, the journey begins
The battle continues even after the order is given.
Life and death are forgotten, but courage remains
The Temple of the God of War, the heroic spirit finally arrives."
Katrina, that is a heavy and powerful tune, giving people a sense of the desolation of the battlefield. But when sung by a girl like her, it adds a sense of sadness.
Ji Yijun and Mo Lei listened to her singing quietly. Ji Yijun clapped his hands and said, "You sang well. This God of War has quite an artistic talent. Were you a believer of the God of War before?"
Catalina shook her head and said, "No, but Brother Adams is a devout believer in the God of War. He often prays to the God of War before fighting."
"Who is Adams?"
"He was a member of our mercenary group. He fought alongside Master Xiao Chen and died while fighting against the bandits."
Ji Yijun said solemnly: "I'm sorry... We should let more people remember their names. Adams? I will tell Wang Jiyuan that we should erect a monument to record the people who died in that battle. In the future, there will definitely be more people who will die because of this or that. If we write down their names, at least we will have something to remember them."
Katarina said: "Mercenaries never expect to be remembered by their employers. They fight, die, and then are forgotten. This is the fate of mercenaries... This is what Sister Kalanda said."
Ji Yijun shook his head seriously and said, "I hate this kind of statement. If nothing else, at least I will remember what you have done. Moreover, I don't think we are just a simple employment relationship. Although we are different in many ways, I think we can become friends and partners. For example, Enrique and Garcia, those two guys, have been with me for a long time, so naturally they are my buddies."
"In fact, many years later, we are all the same, just the dust of history," Morey added seriously.
Ji Yijun waved his hand and said, "So jealous. What a waste of history. I don't want to be a waste of history. Why can't I be a legend in history? Why can't I be a hero praised by future generations? Look at you, an alchemist who knows science, me, a warrior who knows martial arts, and her, well, let's call her a cute little girl, right? It's a template tailor-made for a heroic story!"
Somehow, the atmosphere changed after Ji Yijun spoke, and Catalina, who was originally a little sad, also started to laugh.
"Alright, heroes! We should have a plan now." Ji Yijun clapped his hands, as if to cheer himself up. He looked at the surrounding forest and found that there were quite a few big trees next to the camp. He said, "It's hard to find the followers of the God of War. Let's start with the Temple of Nature. Look, there are a few big trees there that are particularly obvious. Let's start from these trees to see if there are any bad guys causing trouble there."
"But..." Catalina looked at him with some concern, "You don't want to do anything exaggerated in the place where they are worshipping, do you?"
Ji Yijun patted the hilt of his sword and said with a hint of arrogance: "Tsk, what I am going to do depends on what they do."