Badge in Azure

Lex repeated her instructions, so that everyone would understand something. The moment she felt danger, everyone would have to flee immediately. If the temple was located, they could always come back again if they did not get the opportunity to get the seeds of the divine trees this time around. As long as the God’s Ring could unleash its power, it would be akin to the Goddess of Myers having one more life.

Saleen remained silent for the whole night, he did not rest. Instead, he was helping Eleanor craft the sixth divinecherry arrow. The power in the badge had been fully consumed by him. The next time he ran into trouble, he would have to rely on Lex’s God’s Ring. Saleen’s Crystal Finger could kill a sorcerer, but Saleen knew that his life would be in peril if he tried to kill a grade-8 sorcerer. Even if he did not die, he would lose all his offensive abilities.

If possible, Saleen would never use the Crystal Finger again, unless he had already become a sorcerer and possessed sufficient magic chords and mental strength to feed his own consumption.

The temple was only three miles away, but Lex slept very peacefully. At the central region of the desert, almost all the magic beasts had disappeared, and no more sandstorms were appearing. All the mages consumed a portion of magic liquid, ensuring that their bodies were in tip top condition. On the other hand, the swordmasters drank large amounts of Restorative Water, and began altering their rations.

Within the Qin army, the mages would blend food for the high ranking commanders and grand swordmasters. Large amounts of magic medicine were added into the food, which could repair any injuries and raise the ability of the physical body.

Such food was not expensive, at the very least, Lex could afford it. The storage was a hassle though. Even if the food was placed in the God’s Ring, its maximum shelf life would only be six days. The mages had blended six days’ worth of food. After entering the temple, the swordmasters would not need to excrete. This food was almost as pure as a magic nucleus.

This also meant that for the next six days, no one would need to remove their armor, they could maintain a state of combat readiness.

When the sun was just rising, it was the best moment in the Purgatory Desert. The temperature was increasing slightly, but it still remained below freezing. Lex separated the team into two parts, then they advanced northeast. Leading the pack was her own team of mages protected by the swordmasters. Walking at the rear was Saleen’s team. Jola and Su were in charge of ensuring Eleanor’s safety, while Saleen was protected by Nailisi and the demons.

Lex and Saleen were people who could detect the presence of the temple. Lex used her God’s Ring to do that, while Saleen relied on his left hand. Saleen’s hand bone had already been transformed completely. It now possessed the power of the Goddess of Nature, so it had a basal perception towards the temples left behind by the Goddess.

“It’s right in front of us!” Lex’s voice cracked with joyfulness. After searching high and low for more than three hours, and repeatedly matching the bearings, the God’s Ring finally had a reaction. Saleen’s brows were furrowed. He had long realized that he himself could be within the radius of the temple, but he could not locate the temple’s entrance at all.

Lex rushed hundreds of yards forward, then gathered everyone. Saleen closed his eyes, as he slowly said, “We should already be on top of the temple, but this place…”

Black sand was flowing underneath their feet, producing whimper-like sounds in the wind. In such an environment, there would not be any teleportation portals around.

Hesitating for a moment, Saleen said, “Protect me closely.” After finishing this sentence, he took out the newly attained Ring of Gifts, then he began chanting a holy prose.

Eleanor looked at Saleen in astonishment. She had only started teaching Saleen the holy language and even if Saleen had learned all the holy words, it did not mean that he could cast a Divine spell. Saleen was obviously using a complete Divine spell at the moment though.

With a simple ending to the verse, a chain of holy prose flew out of Saleen’s Ring of Gifts. These holy prose glowed with a pale green hue, infiltrating the sea of black sand.

Saleen did not even know what effect this partial Divine spell had, but he believed that the goddess had left behind the Ring of Gifts so that her successor could use it to enter the temple. Given the circumstances in the past, could a grade-1 mage with zero knowledge about holy proses enter a temple by luck? Saleen would not buy it.

These holy prose flew into the black sand, and the earth immediately began trembling vigorously.

The mages lifted off the ground, but they did not soar into the air. Instead, they blessed the warriors in armor with magic, then they levitated in the air at a height of about two to three yards. Grade-4 mages could not fly, but Lex had blessed them with the Flying spell. While the grade-5 mages forced themselves to maintain levitating at this altitude.

The black sand threshed about, like the waves on the ocean. A black mountain peak emerged. The body of this peak was obviously made out of black sand, but as the black sand on the peak flowed downwards, the peak only grew taller and taller. Its speed of growth far exceeded that of the loss of black sand.

When Saleen saw the black mountain peak appear, he was very displeased. Even though he liked the goddess, the current situation seemed like a conspiracy. “Could an unrelated Divine spell and a normal Ring of Gifts summon the temple?” The agenda of this expedition was to gain entry to the temple and look for the seeds of the divine trees. Even if the goddess had placed the seeds directly into Saleen’s hands, Saleen would gladly accept it.

“I cannot possibly abandon the things I need just because this matter smells fishy.”

Helpless, Saleen also flew into the air, then he saw Sika release the magic beast skeleton and flew up too. Sika giggled as she stopped beside Saleen, then said, “Look, what do you think about this little guy?”

Saleen was astounded, because even though the magic beast skeleton had wings, the wings never flapped at all. It was solely relying on elemental power to fly. Sika was not controlling it using her mental strength, or it could be said that Sika and the magic beast skeleton had already merged as one. That skeleton’s flying ability was totally in Sika’s control.

Sika then took out several javelins from the Ring of Gifts, placing them on her back. Nailisi gazed at the skies, feeling a little upset. At the moment, she could not fly, she could only maintain her body’s balance as she stood on the gradually growing peak.

A pair of humongous wings grew out of Cuisi’s back violently, they had a width of six yards. Effortlessly, Cuisi flew beside Saleen, then he glanced down. A short practice had enabled him to control his transformed body at will. The mightiest feature of the Ultimate Shapeshifting Skill was that people could not see through it easily. Even if the body had been transformed, one could still exhibit most of their abilities. This was unlike a normal shapeshifting skill, whereby one would lose all their special powers after transformation.

The mountain peak grew increasingly taller. Gradually, it had reached a height of five-hundred yards, but it still had not stopped growing. Black clouds in the skies began assembling, and Saleen got worried. If there was an impending rain, it meant that lightning would be present too. If a mage flew in the air, they could be electrocuted easily.

As the sand on the black mountain peak flowed down endlessly, the temple’s silhouette was gradually revealed. Saleen sighed, pointing at the entrance of the temple. Without any hesitation, Cuisi made a beeline for it.

Cuisi’s body was the strongest one in Saleen’s team, even Nailisi’s body was weaker. With a flap of his wings, he had arrived at the entrance of the temple. Staring at the temple’s gates which were wide open, Cuisi became hesitant.

At this point in time, the swordmasters who had gained a stable footing in the flowing sand also dashed towards the temple. Very soon, they were standing next to Cuisi. Originally, Cuisi possessed a charming appearance and an alluring figure. Now that he had a pair of wings on his back, those swordmasters felt apprehensive.

If they still could not sense that something was amiss with Saleen’s subordinates at this point in time, then something was really wrong. Lex was not fearful and she did not warn them at all. These swordmasters simply kept a distance where they could wield their swords promptly, they did not retreat.

An easy entrance to a place found after many tribulations? Saleen and Lex landed on the ground. They were both skeptical as they stared at the entrance of the temple.

“Viscountess, allow me.” Wild Bear waved his shield as he spoke to Lex.

Lex nodded. Wild Bear used the gigantic shield to protect his body as he stood in the middle of the temple’s gates. Then, he hollered into the temple, “Is anyone there?”

Everyone thought that Wild Bear was going to rush in, unexpectedly, he actually bellowed from outside. At the same time, the atmosphere became strange, and it lightened quite a bit. Wild Bear swayed his larger than average head, then he took a step forward cautiously, walking into the temple. His right hand was wielding the javelin specially crafted by Saleen. The tip of the javelin was pointed downwards, ready to unleash a powerful attack anytime.

There was no reply at all, the temple was simply empty. The moment Wild Bear entered the temple, the scenery in front changed drastically. It became a verdant world with fresh air and a pleasant temperature. It was tens of thousands of times more refined than the space created by Raphael.

Wild Bear’s javelin vibrated, the Sword Aura had been amassed, but it was not released. Scanning the surroundings vigilantly, Wild Bear could not see any creatures other than some harmless insects.

“Come on in, it seems safe.” Wild Bear hid behind his shield, he never advanced farther in.

The warriors then swarmed in like a school of fishes with Lex and Saleen in the midst of them. Lex held up a pair of alchemical binoculars, observing the depths of the temple. She realized that the environment here was a paradise.

The safer it was, the more suspicious they got. The team had encountered countless perils along the way after all. Even though Lex did not even lose a single person, each one in her team had experienced more than ten crises already. All of them moved with trepidation. The team had been able to get here intact because of their powerful equipment, not because of their individual might.

“What should we do now?” Lex asked subconsciously.

“Set up tent here, and create a set of coordinates first. I want to help them prepare a batch of suitable equipment. The authentic temple isn’t far from here.” Saleen pointed at a mountain peak in the distance. At the river, a temple could be vaguely seen in the clouds.

Lex nodded, she was worried about her personal gains and losses. In a rare moment, she had lost her assertion. Saleen did not alter the original plan, everything was in accordance with the plan. If this was a massive trap, he would want to give up anyway. If the grade-5 mages stood alone, and the Holy See had swept through the mainland, people at Saleen’s grade also would not be affected. Saleen could not, as he had an unresolvable conflict with the Holy See.

“I cannot rely on others, I have to obtain the seeds of the divine trees,” these were Saleen’s thoughts.

The door behind them did not disappear. Beyond the door was a boundless desert, and the sand particles within the winds stopped right in front of the door. It was warm as spring in the temple.

“Set up camp!” Lex ordered, and the mages began piling into the ground, putting in metal coordinates. The team would not lose their way even if they were deep inside the temple that way. The elements within the temple were no longer in disorder and the magic compass could be used. The coordinates in this space could not be corresponded to the coordinates on the Myers mainland, one had to install it on their own.

Lex asked Saleen doubtfully, “What is this place? A half plane? Or is it…”

Saleen raised his head, looking at the strange sun suspended in the sky, then said, “This should be the goddess’ world. I heard that once a god attains a certain level of power, they can create their personalized worlds. This isn’t too strange…”

Lex nodded. Indeed, this was not strange. Even Raphael could create his own world, of course a god could.