At home in St. Teresa's Square, Shad disappeared and the door fell to the floor, but Shad did not feel that he had moved.
After he put his fingers into the white mist of the decorated door, he thought he was standing still, the door in his hand disappeared, and the white mist that emerged around him instantly and completely engulfed the living room on the second floor of St. Teresa's Square.
Looking at the small cat-shaped doll in my hand, it was indeed brought in, and the voice of "her" came to my ears.
Stranger, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".
Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":
Autumn of the year 3002 of the Fifth Era, Western Continent, Forest of Thousand Trees.
Event: God-summoning Ritual - Contact the old god "Gate of Transformation".
Duration: thirty minutes (1/3).
"Sure enough, this key can be used multiple times. Not only does it indicate the number of uses for the first time, but the duration of each use is also longer!"
Xia De's eyes widened, because the following information was the key:
"Does the Ancient God of Time have a mission for me?"
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 the ritual of summoning gods - contact the old god "The Gate of Transformation".
The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: the truth of a piece of history (the Witch War at the end of the Fifth Era), Thaumaturgy - Space Stability Aura.
The sound stopped, and Shade stood in the white mist and frowned:
"Rewarding the truth of history? Hmm... is there such a good thing?"
Although there are no spirit runes this time, the truth of history given by the ancient gods is definitely of great value. Moreover, the witch war at the end of the fifth era is related to the "Whispering Poems" and the secrets of the end of the era. Even if it is really useless to Shade, Miss Carina will not mind spending money to get some secret history from Shade.
He looked at the white mist around him, his face still so serious:
"But this time the mission is to help mortals contact the gods. In other words, I can only meet the old gods if I complete the mission... This is troublesome."
He originally thought that this time, he would also meet the gods directly. If he met a good god like the innocent creator like last time, he would gain enough knowledge to use the divinity.
This time, he was helping mortals summon gods, which was impossible to accomplish with a single time travel. But on the bright side, such a mission was better than dealing with evil gods from the past, and he also got an extra 30 minutes to think about what to do when he returned.
"But I have never heard of the old god 'The Gate of Shining Change'. Is it another unknown old god?"
Thinking about this in my mind, I didn’t continue wasting time, but took a step forward.
The white mist around me dissipated, and the sound of cicadas became louder and louder in the silence, followed by the more imperceptible sound of wind blowing through the treetops. I stepped into the forest at night, and everything was quiet, as if everything had fallen asleep.
Without changing Mia back from her ragdoll state, Shad stood in the forest and looked around. No matter in which stage of his life, this was his first time in a real primeval forest.
The light of three moons, from the overlapping of dense treetops above his head, was cast on the ground in patches. The shadows were swaying slightly because of the wind blowing the branches of the trees. It was really dark around him, as if something was peeping at him in the darkness between the trees and weeds.
Once he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel panic. This emotion was completely abnormal. Compared with being watched by the evil god a few minutes ago, the unfamiliar environment at this moment shouldn't scare him.
"The Forest of Thousand Trees has the same problems as Hope Town."
The wind was blowing gently, and the rustling sound in his ears was like countless whispers overlapping each other. The feeling of nausea gradually emerged, and Shade subconsciously raised his hands to cover his head. At the same time, double images and hallucinations appeared in front of his eyes, but perhaps they were not hallucinations at all. He saw that the eyes of the trees surrounding him were all opened.
Those eyes were staring at him, and the headache was getting worse.
"The first time I went to Hope Town, I was also surrounded by strange scenes. Why is it like this every time?"
There was a little light in the bushes ahead, so he endured the headache and ran forward. After pulling aside the grass in front of him, the warm light immediately shone on his face.
He stumbled out of the bushes and ran away. The damp and rotten smell in the forest was swept away. The air was clear and dry, and he could even smell the faint scent of high-grade spices.
Xia De had only smelled a similar scent on Miss Carina.
After running out of the bushes, there was a towering tree in front of me. Compared with the tree in front of me now, the corpse tree I saw not long ago was as short as a weed.
This is a truly towering tree. There are no other trees under its tall canopy, and Shad is currently standing in the open space under the canopy.
There was a bonfire near the tree trunk, and the flames were a dazzling red-gold color. It was this fire that dispelled the strange sounds and atmosphere around, making this open space not as dangerous as the forest behind it, but rather a bit warm.
There were two simple cloth tents next to the campfire, and next to them were a kettle, a small mirror, a wooden bowl, a wooden box, a basin for soaking clothes and other miscellaneous items.
Three hooded women sat by the campfire, like motionless statues. When they heard the sound of Shade walking out of the bushes, they took off their hoods and raised their heads.
Did you forget something
The whispering voice in my ear asked softly.
Shade stood at the edge of the open space, which was also the edge of the campfire. His shadow was swaying because of the flickering firelight, and was cast onto the grass behind him that was as high as a person.
The firewood crackled in the fire, and Shad had an unpleasant expression on his face:
"Oops!"
Last time, I met a god in the Fifth Epoch, but this time, I met a mortal in the Fifth Epoch. The characteristic of the Fifth Epoch is that only women can use extraordinary powers, and witches have a special aversion to men. Since they can perform the ritual of summoning gods, the three women in front of me must be witches.
"How do you explain your presence now?"
He was in a bit of a dilemma.
The three witches by the bonfire have stood up, and the young lady on the far left said:
"Teacher, someone is coming over. Oh, it seems to be a man. Something is wrong. I don't feel anything strange from him. Is it an illusion?"
It was another language I had never heard of before, but fortunately Xia De could understand it.
The young lady on the far right said:
"Teacher, he actually dared to enter the depths of the Thousand Trees Forest at night. Even we dare not do so. Teacher, I understand. This is a monster transformed by the malice of the forest. This is not a human."
The woman holding the book in the middle looked at Shade. She looked about 23 or 24 years old, with skin as white as milk, long golden hair that was extremely dazzling, and golden pupils that were really glowing. There was a bonfire nearby, and the shadows of the witches were projected onto the giant tree behind them.
Somehow, Xia De actually thought that the face of the woman in the middle called "Teacher" seemed familiar.
The lady seemed unusually calm:
"I've said it many times. Don't look at the appearance, look at the essence. I saw the aura of life in him, a normal aura, which shows that he is a normal human. I also saw the weak but extremely dazzling ether flowing in his body, which shows that he is a mortal who can use extraordinary powers. There are no traces of illusion, and the witch does not allow gender transformation, so this is a normal man who can use extraordinary powers."
Xia De didn't say anything. He looked at the woman standing in the middle, intending to listen to what she wanted to say.
Since the ancient god asked him to help mortals complete the ritual of summoning the gods, the difficulty would definitely not be gaining the other party's trust, otherwise three half-hour trips would definitely not be enough. But even if the other party was a stranger with good intentions, it did not mean that he could let his guard down.
"Teacher, is this normal?"
The young witch on the far left asked inquiringly. The woman called "teacher" asked her students:
"What else did you see in him?"
"The light of the silver moon."
The witch on the right answered.
"The breath of trees."
The witch on the left answered.
The teacher shook his head:
"His ether does not exist in the form we have, but in a strange form that I have seen in the southern continent. Ringmaster, this man is not a witch, but a transcendent of a fairly mature ringmaster system. He—"
The witch's golden eyes met Shade's, and Shade understood what she wanted to say. The witch who could hold the God-summoning ceremony and even get the ancient god, the Father of the Infinite Tree, to send help was indeed extraordinary:
“From the future.”
His identity was seen through so easily, but this was more convenient for Xia De as he didn't have to go through the trouble of explaining his identity.
Moreover, the other party's broad knowledge and strong strength also meant that their summoning ceremony was likely to succeed, and it was not something that Xia De had to build from scratch.
"Yes, I am indeed from the future."
He did not argue, but soon saw the witches showing doubtful expressions. It occurred to him that the Sixth Epoch Common Language he used was completely incomprehensible to them.
I tried to express my meaning with gestures, but I saw the witch called "teacher" whispering something to the young lady beside her. The latter went into the tent behind her and took out a small box.
"If you trust us and have no ill intentions, come a little closer."
The witch said, and Shade nodded, approaching the bonfire cautiously. He noticed that with the bonfire as the center, the open space was sprinkled with circles of golden dust. Every time Shade crossed a line, the dust would make a sharp whistle or glow. This should be some kind of warning method.
He came to the campfire, and the witch called "teacher" handed him the box, which contained a brooch. It was silver, and its shape was the meaning of the ancient rune "language". After touching the brooch and confirming that it was a relic, Shade pinned it on his chest:
"What's the use of this?"
"We understand what you said."
The witch on the right said, and then introduced:
"This is a relic translation brooch. I didn't expect it would be useful for future languages. There should be a relic system in the future, right? You should know what I'm talking about."
They motioned for Xia De to sit down and talk, and they seemed to have completely accepted that the man in front of them was a man from the future.
The three witches seemed to have seen more magical things, so Shade nodded and sat down with them.
Even though there was no direct contact with the good god this time, this was still a good start.