The disappearance of that figure also made the surroundings return to normal. In other words, Xia De realized again that he was submerged in black mud and was still sinking.
Contact with the black mud would not petrify him, but it was not completely unaffected. At first it was just stinging, but after a few seconds of going deeper, Shade clearly felt that he could not hold on any longer, but he was also sure that at least one drop of divinity was waiting for him at the source of the black mud.
You must leave. Your soul can bear it, but your body cannot bear this pollution. Even if you use thaumaturgy to transform into a stone statue, you cannot go down any further. You need a stronger power of the earth to sink to a deeper area.
"I need a second power of the earth? For example, Luvia's Power of the Earth: Field of Plenty?"
The accumulation of quantity is meaningless. You need to make the "Power of the Earth·Healing Aura" stronger. Every time you purify the earth, the effect of this spell will be enhanced. If you make an inaccurate guess, you only need to purify 158 more ancient pollutions like the "Saint Perry Cemetery", or 201 such pollution sources, and you will have a slight chance of reaching the source of the black mud.
"Where can I find 158 or 201..."
If there really are 158 "Saint Perry Cemeteries" of pollution, it means that the problems in Randall Valley City are completely out of control. Shad can consider asking another Luvia if he can restart the Sixth Epoch again. The only possible place Shad can think of is the doomsday era of the previous Sixth Epoch where "another Luvia" is located. That place is probably full of crazy land. But the problem is that he has not found the time key, and even if he finds it, he does not have enough spirit to purify so much pollution.
"It seems that we need to think of other ways to enhance the spell. Divinity must be obtained!"
He tied the chain of the door pendant to his arm to prevent it from being lost. He held the time key in one hand and the pendant in the other, ready to open the door.
Even in the black mud, the cracked wooden time key was still not petrified, and even faintly emitted an emerald green light. The small door, which was originally made of metal, had now turned into stone. But fortunately, the time key had no requirements for the material of the door. As long as it could be opened and closed and was in the shape of a door, any strange material could be used:
"May the World Tree protect me throughout the infinite time."
Click!
The heavy but still small stone door opened, and the misty door with white mist squirming in directly "sucked" Xia De in.
Stranger, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Autumn of the 4791th year of the Fifth Era, Southern Continent, Worm Cave.
Event: Butterfly Festival.
Duration: sixty minutes (3/3).
You get additional information.
The figure of the Infinite Tree Father continues to watch over you.
The tests given to you by the Ancient God of Time will continue.
Help mortals complete the ritual of the old god, 'Thousand-Eyed Illusion Butterfly', so that one of them will gain the favor of the scroll.
The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: Thaumaturgy - Fiona's Household Servant, a True Message - Mermaid.
"Hmm? Sixty minutes?"
Stepping out of the white mist, the corridor of the "worm cave" that left a deep impression on Shade, even though it still had a choking stench, became so familiar at this time because there was no terrible black mud here.
The black mud that originated from the essence of the crazy earth naturally could not follow Shade to this era. Although his skin and clothes were still stained with a strong curse, fortunately, in the "Worm Cave" where even the concept of time and space did not exist, the power of whispers and curses was even stronger.
Compared to this, Xia De's aura is not worth mentioning at all.
"oh!"
The injury on his right arm from the fistfight with the gray stone giant was felt again, and the appearance of the living man made the insects living densely in the tiny holes agitated again. Shade covered his arm and ran forward, and when the "insect rain" fell, he turned into a group of scarlet butterflies.
As the flock of butterflies flew out from the side of the rock wall, through the cave decorated with vines and flowers, like streams of light, and finally landed at the bottom of the cave, the people attending the banquet also realized that the strange man had returned.
Xia De walked out of the group of butterflies. The red butterflies fluttered their wings and landed on his shoulders, then turned into fragments of light and disappeared. The real butterflies that appeared because of the butterfly god Thousand Eyes Illusion Butterfly also danced towards Xia De and fluttered around him when he sat back in his seat.
If Shade had not stated that he did not want the favor of the Butterfly God, Witch Blackett, Sister Perry, and Mr. Lyman would have really doubted whether there was any need to continue this banquet.
The fluttering butterflies spread colorful spots of light around Xia De, and the injury on his arm recovered quickly, allowing him to maintain a good sitting posture. After not seeing him for a week, the three companions who attended the banquet all looked good.
The middle-aged witch Blackett looked at Shad curiously and nodded to him after he sat down; the middle-aged nun Olly Perry, who came for supernatural powers, bowed her head slightly as a greeting, which made Shad think of her old appearance again. The banquet has not ended yet, but he has already seen the end of this pious soul.
As for Mr. Lyman, he was still writing and drawing on the paper in front of him, adjusting the sentences of the poem. According to Sister Perry, this gentleman also successfully left here, and multiplied his family in Randall Valley City, and even had descendants in the Sixth Era.
Shade had already investigated and found that there was no ancient family with the surname "Leiman" in the Randall Valley in 1854 of the Sixth Era, so his descendants probably no longer had the original surname.
However, if it can be confirmed that it was Mr. Fred Lehman who won the favor of the Butterfly God after the banquet, then perhaps there is a special bloodline among his descendants. And the nurse statue at Helen and Grace's place will point out the existence of the special bloodline to Shade.
"God of Butterflies, it is an honor to be able to attend your banquet for the third time."
Xia De said respectfully to the god opposite the huge round table, and the god with illusory transparent butterfly wings behind him asked:
"You got my gift?"
"Yes, I left it to a pair of butterfly girls temporarily. If you are interested, I can tell you the story. But before that, please allow us to present you with poetry."
After receiving the god's approval, the four people continued to present their works in the same order as last time.
Mr. Leiman was the first one. As expected, he praised the beauty of the "Butterfly Girl" according to his own imagination. Some of the sentences were even a little... ... imperfect, but this also fully reflected Mr. Leiman's sincere heart. This gentleman has made great achievements in poetry creation and his poems are very good.
Sister Perry was the second one, and she wrote religious hymns. Compared with Mr. Lyman, Sister Perry's poems were a bit ordinary. She knew that she was probably still not the best in this round, but the nun was able to maintain her normal mind.
The third one was the middle-aged witch Ms. Blackett. Shade originally thought that the only extraordinary person among the three would be able to show the same advantage in the second round as in the first round. But the witch Blackett's poetry was not even as good as Sister Perry's.
Because the witch was sitting next to Shade, after noticing Shade's look, she asked:
"What makes you think I'm good at writing poetry?"
"Because... you are a witch."
"Are witches necessarily good at creation? This is an obvious prejudice held by those who know nothing about witches, sir."
Shad was the last one. This week, he asked Miss Benannis, Resia and Dorothy to help him find excellent poems written in the Sixth Epoch. Miss Benannis chose a poem for him, "Dance of the Butterflies", written by a poet from Delarion in about 1024 of the Sixth Epoch. Dorothy and Resia actually wrote a poem for Shad, and thought that since it was to be dedicated to the gods, it would be better to have an original work.
Shade also thought this idea was good, so what he finally brought was Dorothy and Resia's long poem "The True Red Butterfly". This is a long narrative poem they created based on Grace and Helen. After learning about the story of the Red Butterfly Twins, the princess and the writer were even more moved than Shade, who witnessed the story in person. And after creating this poem, both of them gained new enlightenment.
Because it was a long poem, Xia De held the star-lit book and read it for five minutes before he finished. The three companions listened very carefully. After he sat down, Mr. Leiman closed his eyes and clapped softly:
"Although I don't want to admit it, it seems that I am still far from it."
Sister Perry sighed slightly, lamenting the fate of the twin sisters who tortured each other in the story. The witch Ms. Blackett was curious about the ending of the story. The end of this narrative poem stopped at the beginning of a new cycle. The twin sisters sat on the top of the mountain holding hands, watching the sun rise from the east, and looking forward to meeting in the next reincarnation.
The god made a comment very similar to the last time:
"It's a very good poem. Although it can't be called the best, the story and the emotions contained in it are enough to surpass most poems I've seen. But this is not your poem, and your recitation skills are also very poor. If last time you only had skills but no emotions, then this time, you only have emotions but no skills."
Xia De noticed that the middle-aged witch who lowered her head also smiled at this time. He coughed awkwardly:
"I am willing to admit that I have not made any achievements in the field of art and literature. But since this is a gift for your banquet, I cannot just bring out songs or poems casually, so please forgive me for bringing someone else's work."