Chapter 2331: Power Passed Down Through Inheritance

Chapter 2331: Chapter 2331: Power Passed Down Through Inheritance

Seeing that the cat had no intention to continue using its power, the "dancer" with light brown skin breathed a slight sigh of relief, glanced once more at the burning demon’s corpse, and then walked toward Shard.

As for those armor pieces that had just floated into the air from the sand surface, they had settled back onto the sandy ground by now, but each piece continued to emit a brilliant glow.

"Oh, don’t lick me!"

Shard, who had managed to struggle his upper body out of the sand, tried to keep Mia away a bit, but the cat was unwilling to leave. The sand was quite strange; while one could move and transform freely above the sand, once Shard sank into it, he could no longer do so.

Fortunately, Miss Mister had also walked over, bent slightly, and extended her hand toward him.

Shard tried hard not to look where he shouldn’t, grasped Miss Mister’s hand, and immediately felt a massive force suddenly appear, allowing him to be pulled out of the sand as easily as pulling a radish.

"Meow!"

The cat was picked up by Shard, perched affectionately on his shoulder, nuzzling his face. Shard, sweaty all over, brushed off the sand from his body, and then looked at the still-burning demon’s corpse:

"If I remember correctly, the Evil Spirit Demon cannot be killed."

"No need to worry about it; it will burn under the sun for a thousand years and then might reincarnate in any corner of the Material World."

Miss Mister said, and Shard hesitantly nodded. But the demon was ultimately released by him; if he hadn’t opened the coffin, it would have remained sealed until another group intruded here.

"Can you seal it again?"

Shard asked softly, and Miss Mister blinked her beautiful brown eyes at him:

"Does this count as you asking for my help?"

Last time, the lady had mentioned that if Shard never asked for help, he could receive a gift in the end.

Shard certainly wanted the gift, but at this moment, he nodded:

"Yes, God of Mist. Please allow me to seek your assistance, seal this unknown Ancient One so it cannot harm the human world."

"Then, I will help you."

Pure white mist floated out from the lady’s hand, drifted toward the burning flames, and then enveloped them.

When Shard stepped onto the scorching yellow sand and reached the side of the damp white mist, the mist dispersed, leaving a white glass bead on the sand. Picking it up, you could see mist swirling inside, and within the depths of the mist, the flames continued to burn, with the demon’s blurred figure seemingly frozen in the moment of being scorched.

This was not an ordinary item but a powerful Divine Item, and it even contained a "living being," so Shard knew he couldn’t take it back to his own Space-Time. He planned to give it to Old Lady Sianod, and he believed the witches of Saint Byrons would have ways to handle it appropriately.

On the other side, thanks to Miss Mister’s protection, Lady Knight Nate was uninjured despite being buried under the church ruins. She had fainted from the phantom pain of extracting her own heart, but as Shard picked up the glass bead, she also crawled out from the rubble on her own, quickly putting on her helmet to shield herself from the sunlight:

"Mr. Hamilton, the coffin is over here."

She did not mention the illusion from earlier, merely held the petrified heart and pointed out the coffin’s position.

Shard and Miss Mister together cast spells, causing the coffin to float in the air. Before the coffin lid was closed again, Shard glanced inside, and among the disarray of burial goods, he spotted the Compass Fragments they were looking for.

Deciding not to inspect the rest of the items right now, he resolved to return to the Sun Shrine to do more tasks. With the tomb no longer blocking the sunlight, Shard just wanted to hurry back.

Of course, there was one more thing left to do before leaving here:

"Ladies, please wait for me a moment."

He said to the ladies, then with the cat perched on his shoulder, quickly walked toward the knight statue still standing before the ruins.

Miss Nate and Miss Mister watched from afar as he looked up at the statue of the knight, then gripped the Sunlight Greatsword with both hands, seeming a bit uneasy as if he was about to cut through the air. But he didn’t immediately do so; instead, he switched to holding the sword with one hand, while he summoned the other silver Moonlight Greatsword in the other.

Shard took a deep breath; though he didn’t know if he’d succeed, he felt he had to try:

"Gate of Death!"

The two great swords simultaneously slashed forward, and at the same time, the spirit within him began to rapidly deplete. Normally, opening the Gate of Death was as easy as pushing open the door to his home, but this time Shard felt like he was pushing open the already broken door at the bottom of the stairs in his home during the "Bygone Era: Sixth Era."

But fortunately, as the two Great Swords left a golden and silver trace in the air, the pitch-black crack still appeared between those traces.

The arcane technique "Gate of Death" opens a one-way passage, so the forces on the other side of the crack would not affect Shard’s location. However, when he looked through the crack and saw the serene mudflat, the black water surface, and the thousands of souls circling towards the half-sunken Moon, Shard immediately felt a biting chill.

This chill was absolutely not a psychological illusion, but something real, because even the cat on Shard’s shoulder meowed in displeasure.

"It’s okay, it’s okay."

The desert heat and sunlight were resisting this icy force, and the open crack continued to consume Shard’s Spirit. So he quickly picked up the stone statue, stepped back two paces, then charged forward, and forcefully threw the statue into the crack.

Due to the immense force, the statue flew over the mudflat and directly smashed into the peaceful water surface, and Shard even saw ripples appear on the water surface.

"So this water surface really exists below..."

Shard had never seen anything sink to the bottom in the waters of death before, and just as he thought this, in the midst of those spreading ripples, a man holding a Longsword and wearing Armor flickered into appearance.

The knight turned around, standing at the edge of the water area and gave a slight bow to Shard outside the crack, then waved goodbye. The Armor disintegrated, revealing the soul’s original appearance. The petrified body slumbers beneath the water, leaving only the soul toward the "end point."

"Farewell! Leave that Demon to the people of this era to deal with!"

Shard also waved at the figure, just as he was about to close the crack that was continuously consuming his Spirit, he suddenly saw something fly straight over from the man’s hand. Despite the passage being one-way, the flying object indeed landed in Shard’s hands.

"What is it?"

Instinctively catching it, Shard then looked surprised at the petrified Longsword in his hand, and when he raised his head again, the ancient knight had already embarked towards the distant Nether Moon together with thousands of souls.

The pitch-black crack slowly closed, and the earthen yellow Spiritual Light from the petrified Longsword seeped into Shard’s body, "She" softly reminded:

[Outlander, you have felt the "Miracle."]

[Outlander, you have learned "Power of the Earth: Blessing All Things." By sacrificing one’s flesh and soul to connect to the Earth forming a petrified statue, within a limited region, a form of "Miracle" can be achieved. The power and effect of the Miracle depend on the strength of one’s soul. Requires belief in Ancient God; requires spellcasting materials, Philosopher’s Stone/Blood of Mercury/Blood Essence of All Things, etc., high-level alchemical materials for shaping life.]

"I thought so, this was essentially a sacrificial ritual, but the effect is indeed... wait, why would I need to master this ability, does it mean I will later on..."

"She" continued to laugh softly in Shard’s ear:

[Outlander, because you possess extremely high Petrification Resistance and have the Earth’s blessing and partial essence, you cannot use this arcane technique.]

[This arcane technique has a special trait, you can pass it onto only one person, and you will lose the arcane technique after passing it on.]

Shard nodded, looking at the stone sword in his hand, which had turned into ordinary stone after losing its power, he sighed lightly and patted Mia’s head.

The Moonlight Greatsword in his left hand dispersed, and he waved his hand over the sandy surface; somehow, the glowing armor reassembled into the form of a lion, standing tall on the sand. Shard examined the armor components thoughtfully, tossed out a storage box for the armor to collect them, and only after confirming it could still transform into a toy did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let’s go back."

He quickly headed over to the ladies waiting for him, grateful that this adventure investigation had finally ended.

The return journey was still unbearably hot but at least this time they did not encounter any other situations. Mia remained very cheerful, and Shard not only walked at the back of the group to ensure Miss Nate did not fall behind but also maintained the coffin containing the spoils flying around them.

Fortunately, Miss Mister occasionally helped, or else Shard felt the return would take much more time.

A mermaid girl with blue hair spotted them first atop the sand dunes, waving her hand and shouting from afar. After meeting up with her, shortly after, the group finally successfully returned to the Sun Shrine.

Entering the shade sheltered by the temple, Shard immediately sat on a bench feeling like he never wanted to get up again. Miss Nate struggled to remove her Armor, and Shard felt that set of metal armor was so hot it was practically smoking.

"Really brought it back."

Shard again glanced at the petrified heart temporarily placed beside the female knight, which she brought out from the Illusionary Realm, just like the wreath Old Lady Sianod brought out from the White Bone Illusion, still worn on the Old Elf’s head, and till now, those flowers appeared as fresh as if they had just been picked.

The desert’s illusionary realm was very peculiar, whether it was real or fake was sometimes even difficult for Shard to distinguish. But fortunately, he did not need to discern it clearly.

"But, this can also count as the Heart of Stone, right?"

He thought to himself but had no intention of claiming that thing for himself.