"Unfortunately, the only special coin left is the blood money in my hand."
Shade reminded.
"It doesn't matter. I have made great contributions this time. It should be no problem to apply for relics from the church."
Iluna said happily.
After that, the three of them set off for the basement. Shade first put all the relics he had brought back behind the hidden wall of the basement. As for the ordinary items he had obtained, that is, the Future Man card made of an unknown metal, after Luvia checked it and confirmed that it was indeed an ordinary item, Shade put it in Miss Feliana's notebook and used it as a bookmark.
In the circular space behind the hidden wall, after confirming that the door could not be placed in the place where the original rift of the ancient god of space stood, Shade officially determined the location of the door leading to the dark dungeon.
The entrance to the basement is behind the stairs on the first floor. The steps are located in the west of the basement, and the hidden wall is on the opposite east. At this time, Shade stood in front of the north wall of the basement with the Founding Darkness, and under the watchful eyes of the cat on his shoulder and the two girls beside him, he threw the cards into the air.
The newly installed gas lamp was very bright, but in this light, the cards were not affected by gravity and fell. Instead, they floated toward the wall in front of them until the back of the card was completely attached to the wall.
Xia De stretched out his finger and pointed at the card, and at the same time whispered:
"dark!"
As his fingertips touched the card, a strange halo radiated from the surface of the card. At the same time, a thin white mist drifted out from the gap between the back of the card and the wall, climbing along the wall.
Xia De took the Genesis Darkness away from the wall, but the white fog did not disappear. Instead, it became denser and denser until it completely turned into a white fog door that could not see the wall behind it. After a few seconds, because no one entered, the white fog disappeared and the wall returned to normal.
"No problem, this is the entrance to the dark dungeon in the dark space left behind by the ancient god Fuxing."
Xia De tapped the wall and there seemed to be nothing unusual.
"Unlike the normal entrance, you don't need a dark spirit rune to enter this door. You just need to put your hand on the wall and recite the spell. The spell is like this—"
Xia De coughed:
"May darkness protect me in the shadows."
White mist appeared again between the palm and the wall, and a white mist door was formed.
Leaving Mia outside, the three of them walked in together. Behind the white fog door was indeed a space completely covered by white fog.
Outsider, you have entered the "Dark Dungeon".
"Take a step here and you will enter the Dark Dungeon. It is a special area of nearly infinite size opened up by the Great Ones. It can even be directly called the 'Shadow World'. The terrain inside the dungeon is similar to a maze. It imprisons the shadows of all creatures except gods and gods in saint form."
Xia De recalled the information he got from the leaves, waved his hand in the air, and mist wrapped around his hand:
"The correct conditions for entry are to find the door's location and possess darkness. The correct way to use it requires a relic called the 'Black Robe Fragment'. But because of the special nature of this door, we don't need it."
Luvia looked around curiously. Iluna had been to the Judge's Court before, and Shade had been to many similar places. Only she was in the white mist for the first time.
"What's the use here?"
"Normally, we can only see our own shadows through the dungeon."
As Shade spoke, the white mist around him dissipated slightly, and three bronze trapdoors appeared on the ground. On the trapdoors, the names of the three people were written in the common language of Drarion, which was easy to distinguish.
"Because we entered together, we were able to see everyone's dungeon, but in reality, we could only open our own door."
"Our shadow? Is that another us in the dungeon behind the door?"
Iluna asked curiously. Only Shad, who knew the information about the Dark Dungeon through the Father of the Infinite Tree, could give such detailed knowledge.
Their "other self" was not as convenient as the voice in Shade's ears. Even if they entered here, they only knew that this was a dark dungeon and knew nothing else.
"No, no, you can think of it as... well... it's hard to describe. It's probably like ourselves in the mirror. Completely the same, but not real."
Shade explained. Iluna still didn't quite understand, but Luvia showed an understanding expression:
"We are recorded by darkness."
"That's about it. Going deep into the dungeon and facing yourself, talking to yourself, or even fighting with yourself, can help people who enter here see themselves more clearly, which is helpful for learning certain magic that requires a strong heart. But the most important thing is that even if a ring sorcerer is out of control, as long as he has not completely lost his mind, seeing himself in the dungeon can gradually recover from the process of losing control."
"Multiple available reversals out of control? That's quite interesting."
Luvia commented.
In fact, this is no longer interesting. Among the three spaces that Shade can currently fully use, namely the Time Corridor, the Space Maze and the Dark Dungeon, the Dark Dungeon that reverses the out-of-control state can be ranked second.
"Of course, this is just seeing yourself. If you have control over someone's hair, blood, part of their soul, and real name, you can also open that person's dungeon. It's possible to talk to him and get information, or defeat him and get some of his memories or even magic and spells. But if you do this, you will also inherit the other person's negative emotions, and this impact is very great. Generally speaking, it's not worth doing this for the sake of power."
"It sounds like the dungeon left by the ancient god is like a specimen room in the dark, recording the specimens of all life that has ever appeared."
Iluna gave an inappropriate example, but frowned in confusion:
"But I seem to have heard of a similar place."
"What?"
Both Shade and Luvia looked at her, and Iluna smiled sheepishly:
"When I was receiving training at the Vatican, I heard the old priests talking about the Church of Dawn, which is also the Church of Light and Darkness. I seem to have heard that the Church of Dawn has a way to make out-of-control ring warlocks normal, but the conditions are very harsh. If there are no specific spiritual runes, a complex ritual is required."
"The Church of Dawn also holds the way to the Dark Dungeon!"
Luvia understood immediately:
"Shad said that the Blood Spirit School has almost found the birthing room, so the space left by the thirteen ancient gods does not necessarily have to be discovered with the appearance of the chosen one. Those ancient ring magic organizations may have mastered some of them... Speaking of which, the Prophet Association seems to have a strange saying."
Luvia frowned slightly, wondering what she was thinking of. And Shade thought of more. He confirmed some time ago that the power of the old gods mostly came from the departed ancient gods. Then the power of the righteous gods might also come from the ancient gods. Therefore, Mr. Dawn, the god of light and darkness, is very likely to have inherited the power of the ancient god Fuxing's darkness, so the church can enter the dark dungeon.
Thinking about it this way, the duties of the Five Main Gods seem to correspond to the main duties of the ancient gods.
"That's about it about this place. We don't have anyone we want to see right now, so why not go see ourselves? Maybe we'll get something. The time here is synchronized with the outside world, and there is a door deep in the dungeon that you can leave."
Xia De said to the two girls, then squatted down first, trying to open the door with his name engraved on it.
But he didn't expect that just as his hand grasped the handle, the door actually collapsed into gray dust in the white mist.
He stared in amazement at the only metal door handle left in his hand, and then the door handle gradually turned into dust and disappeared in the white mist.
"Why do I feel like I'm never surprised no matter what happens to you?"
Luvia said with a smile, squatting down and opening her door. Under the trapdoor was a deep staircase. Although the white mist drifted down, it was not as thick as on the ground, so some murals could be seen on both sides of the wall. It seemed to be a woman holding a baby.
Iluna also opened her door. Below was a similarly deep staircase. The mural next to the door also showed a woman holding a baby.
"Look, we're all normal."
The seventeen-year-old girl said.
"Um... ladies, who would like to give me some hair and blood? I want to go down and take a look, too."
He looked at Luvia, who smiled:
"Shad, don't even think about it."
He looked at Iluna again, who shook her head slightly:
"That won't do, Shade. Girls always have to have their own secrets."
They each walked down their own dark staircase, and the trapdoors closed behind them. Shade could not approach the two trapdoors, and could only watch them melt into the mist.
"Really? Why did my door fall apart?"
He was very dissatisfied.
It may be related to your use of divinity.
She said in a low voice.
"It is possible."
Xia De looked at the white mist in front of him:
"Compared to time, space, balance, and the white mist left by the witch, the function here is equally interesting. The self in the dark, the specimen room of mortals, the dungeon... I think you should have some additional information there, right?"
When you touch the doorknob, stranger, you gain additional information.
Sacrifice a drop of divinity to gain a chance to go deeper into the dungeon once a month.
Sacrifice a powerful soul tainted by darkness to gain a chance to go deeper into the dungeon.
Xia De didn't know what a "powerful soul" was, but soul trading was strictly prohibited. Whether it was in the black market, in the academy, or in any other way, once the transaction of souls was discovered, the church had unlimited law enforcement and killing power.
Moreover, in the ring wizard system of the Sixth Epoch, there are very few magic and spells that simply utilize the soul. This is something that cannot be purchased even if you want to.
"But what are the chances of going deeper into the dungeon?"
The Dark Dungeon is made up of a vast space. Normally, you only enter the shallow layer of the dungeon. Deep in the dungeon, there are some terrible things imprisoned. Those demons from the Third Age, the evil demons older than that, the monsters that only exist in the subspace, and the shadows of the unknowable humanoid relics are all in the deeper layers. In addition, the deeper layers of the dungeon also hide some secrets from the ancient era. After each sacrifice, you have three hours to explore. Knowledge, power, relics, wealth, as long as you come out alive, you will definitely gain something.
"Dungeon exploration? Ancient evil? It sounds very dangerous."
Xia De said, looking around, then took a step back, walked out of the wall and returned to his basement:
"Sacrificing other people's souls, this kind of thing doesn't sound like something I would do... unless I really meet a bad guy."
He picked up the cat that was sniffing around on the ground:
“I wonder if the Dawn Church would do this... Oh, the church would only know about sacrificing divinity, and would not get any information about sacrificing dark souls. However, divinity can actually allow people to explore it once a month... If a lucky person really opens the dark dungeon once a month by chance, it would be very interesting.
Right, Mia?"
She was chuckling again for some reason.
He walked out of the basement holding the lazily squirming cat, but when he stood on the steps, Xia De suddenly turned his head and looked at the wall of the basement:
"According to this trend, there won't be more and more 'doors' at No. 6 St. Teresa's Square?"
No one answered his question.
"However, fortunately my house is big enough. Even if there are thirteen, ahem, twelve doors, it is more than enough to accommodate them."
Thinking in his heart, Xia De left the basement and prepared to close the window. It seemed to be raining outside. But when closing the window, he was very careful not to stand at the window, for fear of being struck by lightning.