After seeing off Luvia and Yin Luna, Xia De came to the bedroom door with the key he had just obtained yesterday. He didn't know which year the key corresponded to, only that it was the Fifth Epoch. But there was no need to investigate, after all, no matter what year it was, he couldn't know in advance what would happen.
"Meow~"
"This is the first time I'm using this key, so I can't take you with me. Wait for me at home, I'll be back soon."
He said to the cat that was spinning around at his feet. Mia saw that she couldn't convince Shade, so she had to lower her head and stand there with a wronged look on her face as she watched him take out the key. Shade, who was already familiar with the cat's habits, didn't feel sad at all, because he would be back in three seconds anyway.
"May the World Tree protect me throughout the infinite time."
The door opened with a click, and Shade stepped into the thick fog:
"The story of the lost forest journey is still a little sad after all. I hope everyone can have a good ending this time."
Stranger, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Summer of the 1576th year of the Fifth Era, Western Continent, Black Mist Camp.
Event: Transaction with the Old God - "Golden Lord".
Duration: twenty minutes (1/3).
"20 minutes, so short?"
500 years before the year 1576 in the Fifth Age, in 1068, Shad met the old god "the creator of innocence" and three children in the toy shop in Hope Town, who influenced the trajectory of his life; 200 years after 1576, in 1784, Shad met Mr. Riddle, "the luckiest mortal" in the Dreadfort, and played a game of cards with the gods with the life of that ordinary man.
In other words, theoretically, at the time point of "Fifth Era 1576", Shade should not meet any familiar people. But he was not disappointed at all. After all, the Fifth Era was so long, if he met familiar witches every time, that would be something he should be wary of.
"The old god - the Lord of Gold... Isn't this the famous god of commerce and wealth?"
The "Golden Lord" is one of the most famous old gods in the Fifth Era. Even though he has left, he still has many believers in the Sixth Era. It can even be said that this god is one of the most powerful old gods in the Fifth Era. Even the Orthodox Church acknowledges this in their scriptures.
Shade remembered reading in his textbook that the old god, the Golden Lord, left around 5300 in the Fifth Era. That was already the late Fifth Era, and the influence of this old god radiated throughout the era.
What this "God of Business and Wealth" is best known for is actually the magical power that is exclusive to his believers - the Midas Touch.
The effect of the magic is to convert any substance with a unit price lower than gold that it touches into gold. Although this conversion consumes a large amount of spirit and is not effective on extraordinary materials, and the converted gold has strong elemental reactions and needs complex processing before it can be circulated, this does not prevent this magic from becoming an ability that ring sorcerers talk about with relish.
"I remember that this old god has a very good reputation and fully respects the principles of fair trade and equal exchange. This is good news... Oh, please continue."
You get additional information.
The figure of the Infinite Tree Father watches over you.
The ancient god of time has given you a test.
Assist mortals to complete their respective transactions.
The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: Spell-Oath Binding, a piece of true information-Silvermoon Library.
"What? Silvermoon Library?"
Xia Deben was ready to take a step forward in the white mist, but he was startled when he heard the last information.
Although Tree Father had given him information about the "Dark Dungeon" before, this time he was about to enter the library again and try to touch the moon again, but he didn't expect that Tree Father would really give him the information about the library immediately.
Although the information given by Treefather might not help him enter the library immediately with sufficient authority, at least it was definitely useful. He didn't know what to say, so he could only prepare himself and then take a step forward in the fog.
The white mist dissipated to both sides like a curtain, revealing the "stage" in front of Xia De. After the bright white mist receded, it was a dark world.
Even though Shad had dark vision, it took him at least two seconds to adjust to the surroundings.
The sky was covered by black fog, and there was an endless plain all around. It was completely dark, without even a glimmer of light. Everything seemed to be still in this lightless world, but fortunately, the surrounding land was still growing with twisted low weeds and unknown black wildflowers, giving this area a strange vitality.
Although the places I went to after opening the time key in the past were also dark, this was the first time it was completely dark like it is now.
Looking more closely, he saw a path under his feet that was submerged in wild plants, and he was facing one direction of the path. So, Xia De, who had sufficient experience in time exploration, took a step and appeared 20 meters away while the surrounding plants began to creep and grow, and then ran quickly to the far end of the path.
This at least proves that the location of this time exploration does not prohibit spatial abilities.
The original weeds and black flowers were strange enough. The twisted and tangled weeds looked like swirling tentacles, and the disks of the unknown black flowers looked like human faces. When they came to life, their deformed and malicious forms became even more undisguised.
Shade had been chased by different things in different scenes, and the one that impressed him the most so far was being chased by a swarm of worms in the worm cave, so this time was nothing. He didn't think about anything, didn't listen to anything, just kept running forward along the path in the dark.
There was originally no light here, so there was no such thing as the light gradually decreasing. However, while running, he gradually felt the "darkness" behind him getting heavier and heavier, and he even felt the ground begin to vibrate slightly.
Fortunately, the tree father did not throw him too far away. He soon noticed that the path under his feet turned into an upward slope. At the same time, there was some black mist in the originally empty air - it was quite difficult to distinguish them in the complete lack of light.
The plants behind him, which had been revived to look like "sea tides", did not seem to like the black fog. When Shade entered the black fog area, the plants' pursuit slowed down significantly. As Shade went deeper into the thicker black fog along the upward path, the malice of the entire plain against him completely disappeared.
The black fog did not affect Shade's body - at least he did not feel it, but it completely blocked his vision and perception. This obstruction was even more serious than the fog on the central island of Green Lake, and even "Strong Spatial Perception" was completely ineffective.
"Silver Moon."
While continuing to walk forward in the fog, he whispered and stretched out his fingers, but the moonlight from his fingertips could only reach a very short distance, which was not enough to help Shade gain a wider field of vision. It was as if the act of "perception" itself was forbidden in this exploration.
"Blood Echo, Demon of Sight."
Sure enough, the two types of perception magic were completely ineffective, and Xia De's judgment was correct.
But he was not panicked. After walking only twenty steps into the black fog, he saw a fire the size of a grain of rice in the distance. Then he continued to move forward. The fire became brighter with each step. After less than five steps, Xia De saw that it was actually a bonfire on the side of the road. The light of the bonfire could actually dispel the black fog that even Xia De's moonlight could not dispel.
There was a very simple camp around the campfire, and three people holding torches seemed to be waiting for something. Although the torches in their hands were slightly weaker, they could still disperse the black fog.
There is a big rock beside the path, and an old woman with gray hair is sitting on the rock. She is an ordinary person; a young girl who is looking at the surroundings with a bored face and holding a torch is standing next to the old woman. She is a witch, but she should have just broken through to a high level; the last person is standing on the other side of the campfire a little away from the rock, but he has not left the roadside. He looks like a boy in his teens.
Compared to the calm old woman and the young witch who didn't seem to be worried about the situation around her, the boy looked frightened as he held his torch.
Therefore, when he looked around, he first saw Shade coming out of the black fog. When the boy subconsciously took a small step back, the old woman and the young witch also looked at him.
After noticing that Shade didn't have a torch in his hand, the two women showed puzzled expressions. Then the witch left the campfire and walked up to stop Shade:
"Wait a minute ma'am, who are you?"
She showed no hostility, only doubt, and raised the torch in her hand forward while speaking. The light of the fire swayed and dispersed the black fog around Shade. Seeing that Shade did not show any abnormality in the face of the fire, the young red-haired witch breathed a sigh of relief.
She should be quite young, and praised him frivolously:
"Your Transfiguration is amazing, but it may also be because the black mist has severely degraded my senses. I have to admit that you really look like a man. But I think you don't have anything down there. A witch can't transform that thing."
"Well... I didn't use any Transfiguration. I am just a man."
Shade corrected, taking two more steps forward before pointing to his face.
"Although this fog will affect perception, we are so close, you should be able to tell that this is a real face, right?"
The young red-haired witch hesitated blankly for a moment, then widened her eyes:
"Wait, you really are... How is this possible?"
This was not the first time that Xia De had encountered such a thing, but he was more concerned about another thing:
"We can actually understand each other's language?"
As he spoke, he took the initiative to stretch out his right hand. The young witch subconsciously grabbed his wrist, and after letting go, she looked at her palm, and then realized what Shade had taken the initiative to do:
"How come you are so skilled... It seems you must have met other witches before."
Compared to other witches Shade had met in the Fifth Era, this young girl had the most indifferent attitude towards "men":
"You don't have to think too much about the language problem. Since we are going to a market dedicated to trading, of course we have to make sure that everyone who comes here can understand each other's language."
She said lightly, without asking about Shade's identity, but motioned Shade to come to the bonfire with her. The fire became brighter and brighter, and the flame of the torch in the witch's hand obviously came from this bonfire. Shade's body was completely exposed to the fire. Seeing that he was still normal, the old woman and the boy were no longer so nervous.
The witch motioned for Shade to pick up a stick by himself:
"Whether you are a man or a woman, it seems that you are the last trader to participate in the market this time. Obviously everyone is here, let's go."
Shad randomly picked up a burning stick from the campfire, then noticed that although there was a flame burning above the wood, the flame was not consuming the wood.
His hand was very close to the flame, and "she" whispered:
This flame is only targeted to disperse the black fog and has no other properties.
Xia De didn't even feel that the "Original Fire" in his body showed any signs of stirring, which meant that this fire was not worthy of being devoured by the Original Fire.
“I’m not actually a trader who attends the bazaar.”
Xia De signaled the young witch who was about to leave the campfire to wait for a moment, and then said in a vague tone:
"I just came here by accident and saw you. Can you tell me what's going on now?"
As he spoke, he raised his right hand, and bright silver moonlight appeared in his palm:
"I do have some skills, and if you're willing to let me go with you, I can be of some help."
The witch looked at his palm, then at his face, then turned to look at the old woman beside the stone, and after the old woman nodded, she said:
"Sure. It's safer to have someone to accompany you in such a dangerous place. As for you saying that you got here by mistake... I'll believe you for now. Let me introduce myself. I'm Leah Higgins, hired by this lady..."
She pointed at the old woman:
"Come here with her. If I help her complete a deal, I can get a big commission. It's really a big amount."
She didn't know what she was thinking about, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
The old lady also spoke up:
"Hi, I'm Sarah Myers, I'm here at the market to do some business, nice to meet you."
She spoke slowly but in an affable way, which was characteristic of an elderly noblewoman of status.
"By the way, this Ms. Miles is the cousin of Her Majesty Faris Miles, the Witch Emperor of the Desert. My commission was paid by Her Majesty."
The young witch winked at Shade:
"you understand me."
"Yes, I understand. I will help you take good care of this lady. However, since you were commissioned by that majesty, why didn't she hire a stronger witch... I don't think you are weak, but..."
Miss Leah Higgins didn't care what Shade said, but said proudly:
"His Majesty did the divination himself and asked me to accompany Mrs. Miles. The probability of success is very high. Sir, you can distrust me, but you cannot distrust the divination of the Witch Emperor."