Chapter 2401 - 2341: Crystal of Truth and Holy White Hall

Chapter 2401: Chapter 2341: Crystal of Truth and Holy White Hall

But Shard didn’t want to do that. The story of the past has ended, and he has no need to explore whether the couple in the fairy tale "The Princess and the Prince Lived Happily Ever After" actually had a happy marriage, whether they were urged to have children early, or if there were marital conflicts.

"But speaking of which, this reminds me of something."

Audrey, who appeared in the dining room during Shard’s storytelling, said. As for whether it was Megan or Audrey, Shard couldn’t distinguish just by looking; the Twin Witches theoretically count as one person:

"You know, Shard, the ’Lady Mist,’ who is the God of Mist, is actually believed to have a significant connection with the Ancient God ’Sage of Silvermoon.’ This lady’s Order isn’t large, and since the Ancient Era, whenever She manifests in the Material World, it always appears in dense fog under moonlit nights."

"So, it doesn’t make sense for this Deity to appear in such a hot desert."

Luviya concluded, smiling at Shard:

"She can’t be waiting specifically for you, can She?"

"Oh, Luviya, you should hold the Deity in reverence."

The Outlander said to the local girl, who nodded with a smile, still seeming to want to tease Shard.

"In any case, Shard’s time travel this time has been very rewarding. It’s a shame he can’t unfold his New Myslock right now, or everyone could return to eighteen."

Miss Aphrola said with a smile, and all the ladies laughed.

Shard continued eating breakfast, while Luviya and Miss Belindel went to check the glowing box and the armor, and Miss Aphrola and Audrey sat at the table studying Miss Nate’s Knight Sword.

This Longsword transformed by the "birth" of a Witch would have been collected by the ’Witch Council’ if it were not Shard’s memento:

"This is the second hero upon whom Shard has witnessed the drawing of the sword. Yes, Miss Nate is worthy of being called a hero; it’s a pity she’s not in the modern age, or I would love to meet her."

Shard was not idle while eating, which doesn’t mean he was feeding a cat or reading a newspaper, but instead receiving knowledge and power from the two Ever-Youth Leaves.

One represents the information from the ’Holy White Hall,’ and the other corresponds to the Arcane Technique "Truth Crystal" for ’Prejudice.’ Shard swallowed the bread in his mouth and casually picked up a leaf, placing it in front of his right eye.

Then golden glimmer flowed along with the veins of the green leaf, until it also dyed Shard’s entire right eye golden.

Moments later, Shard put down the leaf, the first leaf being an Arcane Technique:

"I’ve acquired a new Arcane Technique, who wants to test its effects?"

He asked the ladies, and as they curiously looked this way, he extended his right hand with the palm facing up. Some imperceptible glimmers converged above the palm until they coalesced into a semi-transparent white crystal.

Although the "Edge of Life and Death" had closed, the glowing mist it brought forth did not disappear. The room was lit by gas lights, yet in this environment, the witches and Luviya could still observe the slight glow emanating from the crystal itself.

"What effect?"

Luviya asked curiously.

"Magic - Truth Crystal. It has only one effect: revealing hidden truths. Of course, it doesn’t let me directly know the truth of a question, but rather when the crystal is activated, it breaks through Illusion Techniques, Invisibility Techniques, and some Transformation Spells within a certain range, returning them to their original forms.

Currently, it’s unknown whether it would be effective for the ’Hidden Passage’ in the home’s basement... Oh, this Arcane Technique’s effect is extremely powerful. If I wanted, I could even make the makeup on your faces disappear with the crystal’s effect, or make all the clothing in a certain range become transparent. Of course, these two effects are selectively activated."

Luviya, who intended to walk this way, immediately stopped:

"You should never use those two effects... making clothes transparent isn’t much of an issue, but if you remove the makeup from the girls’ faces without permission, you’ll definitely be reprimanded."

"Luviya, did you say that backward?"

The girl with purple eyes remained silent with a smile, and the witches continued with their tasks, none of them interested in testing the white transparent crystal floating in Shard’s hand.

Shard shook his head slightly, his eyes fixed on the crystal in his hand. With the injection of Spirit, the crystal began to slowly rotate, emitting an even brighter glow.

The initial state of the "Crystal of Truth" has a coverage area of about 1 meter around it, and can be expanded by continuously injecting spirit. As for the current limit, because this is Belindel Estate, Shard is unsure how many Illusion Techniques are in effect here, whether out of caution or courtesy, he cannot casually use such area-based abilities.

However, the crystal rotating in his hand did attract Mia, who was beside him and had snuck in another breakfast.

This cat always exhibits a substantial amount of curiosity in safe environments.

To Mia, Shard is an absolutely safe presence; hence, even not knowing what that glowing object is, she quickly approached it. After Shard placed his hand on the table, Mia impolitely pressed her front paws on Shard’s palm and leaned her head forward to sniff at it. Finding it scentless, she returned to her second breakfast and continued eating.

"The [Crystal of Truth] has no reaction to Mia, seems like there’s no disguise on her."

[What are you expecting?]

"Nothing!"

"She" smiled gently, so Shard decided not to dwell on this topic further and tossed the crystal onto the table.

The [Crystal of Truth] is actually quite similar to the Moonlight Greatsword, Great Sin Chains, and other "Spiritual Weapons," but its effects are neither offensive nor restraining. Therefore, the crystal produced by spellcasting is not a phantom but rather a semi-physical entity, and can even exist independently of Shard.

As long as Shard desires and his spirit is sufficient, the number of crystals he can create is almost limitless. But as time goes on with the crystal detaching from him and continuing to exert its effects, the Crystal of Truth cannot exist independently for a long time.

In other words, if Shard leaves this crystal on the table unattended, while it would disappear after one or two hours, during that time all the Illusion Techniques, Invisibility Techniques, and some Transformation Spells on anyone passing by would be broken.

"Let’s test the illusion-breaking capability... Ladies, who will cast an Illusion Technique?"

He asked again, and Miss Aphrola, who was sitting at the other end of the table checking the Knight Sword with Megan, raised her hand, producing a gleam.

Within the gleam, a nearly completely transparent cat ran swiftly yet gracefully along the long dining table towards Shard and Mia. As it ran, its body continuously solidified until it transformed into the form of a real orange cat.

"Meow~"

Mia immediately raised her head and "roared," but seeing the cat melt into the air as it ran, she looked around suspiciously and, confirming there were no other cats, abandoned her food and sauntered over to lie down beside Shard.

Shard smiled and petted her back, then drew a conclusion:

"Not only does the Crystal of Truth require the consumption of spirit to expand its effective range, but upon sensing the existence of Illusion Techniques, Invisibility Techniques, or Transformation Spells, additional spirit must be consumed to interfere or even break these effects... The consumption is substantial, but it’s still a very impressive Arcane Technique."

Shard even felt that this brand new Arcane Technique ranked among the top in usefulness within his array of auxiliary Arcane Techniques.

Seeing Luviya and the Countess still engrossed in using Divination Cards on that box, Shard picked up another leaf. After similarly placing the leaf in front of his right eye, he furrowed his brow:

"The effect of the [Holy White Hall] is actually like this?"

Luviya had reminded Shard that unless absolutely necessary, he should not share information about those spaces left behind by the Ancient Gods, so he did not call Luviya over to discuss the topic.

"Within ’Holy White Hall’ - a segment of true information - it contains the method to use a ritual to summon a temporary door, as well as how to use The Chosen One’s power to permanently gain a door."

But more importantly, the effect of [Holy White Hall], though labeled as a hall, its interior more resembles a church. Entering individuals would see all the Holy Emblems of deities they’ve had contact with, and through interaction with these emblems, they can receive various temporary blessing effects.

The so-called "deities they’ve had contact with" must at least have watched them, and both departed deities and existing deities qualify. The specific effects obtained through interaction with the Holy Emblems inside the hall depend on the power of the deity corresponding to the emblems and the relationship between the circle sorcerer entering the hall and that deity.

The more profound the relationship—be it good or bad—the stronger the special effect obtained. That is, the favorability, whether "friendly" or "hate," is fine, but not mere "coldness."

"This is quite interesting, considering there should not be many people in this era who have contacted more deities than I have. Just not sure if Ancient Gods count, but I don’t recall having much contact with Ancient Gods... the Night of the Eclipse at Green Lake, I encountered the remnants of the Primal Moon in [Silvermoon Library], does that count as contact with the [Sage of Silvermoon]?"

Shard pondered silently, but now he could not immediately find a door leading to the "Holy White Hall," so whatever effect it might have would be discovered later.

But he thought of another issue:

"I remember the effect corresponding to ’darkness’ in the Dark Dungeon is to record everyone’s inner self, enabling effective soothing of mental and spiritual instability through contact with it. Darkness records the mundane, and Brightness records deities, perfectly opposing each other~ Speaking of, Silvermoon records knowledge; wonder what the Sun records."