Witch Redemption

Violet, trusting Li Lan, immediately panicked upon hearing this.

Li Lan really wanted to say, "Calling me 'Dad' won't do you any good," but in the end she held back. "Let's take it one step at a time and think about how to proceed tomorrow. You've talked so much about the Duchy, but you haven't mentioned what your mission is like this time."

Violet paused for a moment, then told everything without hesitation.

It turns out that these witches regularly accept missions from the United Duchy of Ries, thereby gaining a large amount of magic book experience. Sometimes, they not only hunt monsters, but also orcs. That's why a terrifying and cold-blooded killer, Savasi Finn, was born.

However, this guy was eliminated because his superiors wanted to get rid of Li Lan.

When Li Lan heard that familiar name, he didn't admit that he had killed the witch; he pretended not to know anything.

This entry into the Great Desert of Rune was also at the behest of those above. The idea was that these witches could join forces to enter the sealed land of the Pillar God Vipa. As long as they could kill the Pillar God, they could share a large amount of magic book experience. The exact amount was not specified, but it was hinted that they might have the opportunity to advance to a Gold Magic Book.

Sure enough, Li Lan understood immediately upon hearing this.

This is related to divinity. According to previous information, killing intelligent beings or monsters related to divinity can yield extremely terrifying magic book experience.

In other words, Violet and her group's mission this time is actually very similar to the "Ruins of Mo City" mission that Li Lan and his group received in the British Empire.

However, there is one thing that the United Duchy of Ries probably doesn't know: there are countless layers of sealing barriers here. One of them was confirmed not long ago to be a barrier that allows entry but not exit. If Li Lan hadn't been with these witches this time, they would probably all have been killed. Even if they had managed to kill the pillar god sealed here, they would probably have been killed along with him.

So, could this be a conspiracy? Or am I overthinking it?

"A significant upgrade to the level of a magic book? This seems like a huge opportunity for me! If I can also defeat this pillar god, perhaps I can advance to the Gold level of a magic book?"

For Li Lan, a priest, leveling up her magic book has always been a source of pain, because it's just too difficult to improve, and she can't unleash her full power.

It seems this temple is worth exploring!

If tomorrow remains safe and Ann Gnath doesn't break through, then Li Lan plans to seize this opportunity and see if she can take off.

"If we can really kill this pillar god, then there will only be one thing to consider afterward: how to escape from this temple, how to escape from this oasis, and where to go next?"

Li Lan did consider crossing the Ruen Desert directly, but instinctively sensed that things might not be as simple as they seemed.

Because he couldn't determine his current direction or location at the moment.

During this period, the guide, Celine Belluman, has been quite troublesome, changing directions countless times. Li Lan didn't bother to keep track, which will be a huge problem.

Chapter 19 Sealed Land

The darkness of night quietly dissipated, and the morning of a new day arrived once again.

Thanks to the help of the black-haired Yu Hui, who used the blonde Yu Hui's "positive-negative reversal" talent to reverse the internal barrier of the dilapidated temple, temporarily blocking Ann Gnath and her witches, Li Lan and the others are currently safe.

In fact, the reason for not planning to venture deep into the temple overnight was due to concerns about the dangers there, plus everyone needed to get plenty of rest and conserve their energy.

"Let's go see what's going on with that sealed pillar god. Maybe we can find a way out of here."

It has to be said that what the three witches mentioned last night—that if they could defeat this pillar god, they could obtain a large amount of magic book experience—was something that Li Lan found unusually tempting.

So, the four witches and two little girls began to slowly walk forward into the spacious and empty temple corridor.

The entire temple was deathly silent and gloomy. Most of the walls along the way were carved with a large number of epic murals, which mostly praised the birth of a god and his benevolence towards mankind.

Although Li Lan and the others couldn't understand the meaning of the carved characters, they could still roughly guess some of the basic content of the mural.

In addition, this temple is ridiculously large; you probably wouldn't be able to see it all in half a day.

Li Lan wasn't in a hurry. As she walked, she searched the rooms that occasionally appeared on both sides, just like a real treasure hunt.

For example, the first room we entered still retains the layout from ancient times, and many pieces of furniture with sculptures of the moon, fish scales, and stars are still in good condition.

"Strange, ten thousand years have passed, how come this wood hasn't rotted away yet?"

Could it be that some kind of preservative food additive was used? Li Lan muttered curiously, opening the cupboard next to her. Inside were several plates of half-eaten food. Although they had long since cooled down, they had not rotted. Judging from their color, they looked like yesterday's leftovers.

“Isn’t that obvious? Strictly speaking, this is the domain of a certain deity before his death, and he set up so many barriers here,” the black-haired Yu Hui began to explain again. “I dare not boast about anything else, but the inner barrier set up by this deity is quite complete. Its effect is not only to block a certain powerful being sealed here, but more importantly, it freezes the spacetime here.”

What is time? Time is the flow of matter. When the flow of matter stops, doesn't time stop?

To some extent, there is still a bit of science in this world. For example, time cannot be interfered with; in other words, time cannot be reversed, and once something has happened, it can never be reversed.

The so-called "freezing of spacetime" is, to be precise, not interference with time, but interference with matter.

The flow of matter in the outside world continues, and time continues to move forward, but the flow of matter within the sealed barrier has ceased. To be precise, for the things within the barrier themselves, time is stagnant relative to the outside world.

"you mean......"

Li Lan suddenly remembered a somewhat frightening fact: before they entered this temple barrier yesterday, was everything inside the barrier still in the state it was ten thousand years ago? In other words, the pillar god Vipa, who was sealed here, was probably also perpetually in a state of severe injury, unable to recover?

"Yes, that's why I said yesterday that this is just an internal barrier, you can only enter but not leave. Once you enter, everything will be frozen. That's why I said that Yu Hui is a genius. Her talent can reverse the nature of this barrier, turning it from internal to external. And because of the change in nature, it no longer freezes spacetime, which is why the transition was so smooth."

Black-haired Yu Hui waved his hand, then smiled mischievously, "Of course, it is precisely because of the change in nature that the pillar god inside has awakened and is in the process of continuous recovery."

Why didn't you say so sooner?

Li Lan was speechless for a moment, her face turning a little dark. This little rascal insisted on hiding such an important matter.

"Because it's fun! That's what adventure is all about, isn't it? Any benefit you get without risking your life to obtain it will be dull and tasteless. I'm just adding some fun to our journey."

That made some sense, but Li Lan still angrily pinched the little guy's cold cheek. "Why would I make things difficult for myself by trying to win while lying down? You bastard!"

"That's why I say, humans are so boring! They're always daydreaming and having wild fantasies!"

Black-haired Yu Hui was used to this kind of character customization and actually enjoyed refuting it.

"Doesn't he even consider whose fault this is? Damn it! This guy is a Pillar God! Even though he's sealed away, who knows just how monstrous his regenerative abilities are? This could kill someone!"

That being said, based on Li Lan's understanding of Hei Fa Yu Hui, this guy should know a little bit of propriety. Sometimes he likes to court death to increase the difficulty of his battles, but it shouldn't be to the point of being fatal.

"He's just a piece of trash. If you can't even beat a piece of trash, you might as well kneel down and beg me to help you, hmph!"

Black-haired Yu Hui was already mentally calculating how to extort this intriguing witch. "Hehehe, novels are one thing, but I also need all sorts of entertainment. Besides, this guy's cooking skills are amazing, there's definitely something else I don't know. Maybe..."

"Is this even human language?"

"Look how scared you are. Don't worry, it's only been a short time. How much recovery can this guy possibly have?"

With a wicked grin, the black-haired Yu Hui swaggered around the room, turning it upside down, searching everywhere from the closet to under the bed.

"Tch, how come there's nothing good here?"

They're really treating this like a fun adventure game, like a treasure hunt?

Li Lan also looked around for a while. This room should belong to a family of three. There were several sets of men's and women's clothing, as well as some children's clothes. All of these clothes were full of exotic style.

In addition, both the layout and the numerous daily necessities were arranged in a very messy manner, as if a catastrophe had suddenly struck and the homeowner had not had time to pack his belongings before fleeing in a hurry.

Since she couldn't find anything of value, Li Lan didn't linger. Instead, she obediently withdrew, keeping a close eye on the exploration interface on the magic book while communicating with the witches around her.

...... ...... ......

"Violet, how much do you know about your natal magic book?"

Seeing that they didn't use their natal magic books often, Li Lan was still very curious and had a preliminary guess in her mind.

Violet was a little confused. "The grimoire records our personal information, which we can use in battle."

The naturally shy Yin Anni responded, "I noticed that you've been looking at your natal magic book since yesterday. Is there some secret hidden in it?"

Sophia nodded. Clearly, the three witches following Li Lan were no fools. Under the influence of this experienced witch senior, they could learn something from her.

"So, it seems the witches have to figure out the secrets within the grimoire themselves?" Li Lan thought to herself. "Judging from the Empire's perspective, the higher-ups definitely know what secrets the grimoire holds. The fact that they haven't told this group of witches suggests they still harbor suspicion towards them?"

"Did the duchy say anything?" Li Lan thought for a moment and then asked, "Is it about the natal magic book?"

“No,” Violet added, “However, for us witches, there is an assessment every month. Witches who pass the assessment can receive an audience with the King of the Duchy in person, and will also receive generous rewards in various aspects, which may include some of the secrets in the magic book?”

"An assessment? It seems to be an assessment of loyalty?" Sophia asked curiously.

"It should be. I've only heard about it. After all, I always feel dizzy when I take the test, and by the time I wake up, it's already over."

“I see,” Li Lan nodded, not going into further discussion. “Actually, there are three little-known secrets about our grimoire. One is its storage function. Note that, apart from the fact that complete monster corpses cannot be stored directly, some materials, magic cores, and intelligence cores can be stored directly.”

"Secondly, the natal magic book has the function of storing knowledge. Any book other than the magic book can be superimposed on our natal magic book to replicate all the contents of that book. Generally, it is stored permanently. As a derivative function, the magic book will also have a survey interface. You can think of this interface as a mini-map. It is generally used to explore dangerous monsters in the area."

"The last one is that after storing certain items in the grimoire, it may unlock related sub-jobs, which will be related to your main job to some extent."

Since Li Lan considered this group of people as teammates, she naturally didn't hold back and explained things to them.

"So...I see!"

That's incredible! Violet never imagined that this magic book had so many uses. She was filled with admiration for this witch senior and felt like she had met her long-lost friend!

From now on, I'll be Senior Luo Men's little fanboy, no, I should call myself a little fangirl now?

Violet felt unusually conflicted, wondering whether she should accept the fact that she was now a woman.

On the other side, after a night, Sophia, who was gradually recovering from her heartbreak, was also very curious. She had hardly seen this witch senior make a move. She thought he must be so strong that he had no friends.

"Senior Luo Men, may I ask a somewhat offensive question?"

"It's okay, go ahead and ask."

"Just how strong are you...?"

Li Lan didn't pretend to be profound; she bluntly said, "I'm trash."

"No, no, no, how could that be...?"

"Race: Elf; Grimoire Class: Priest; Sub-class: Apothecary and Life Creator; a rare dual-sub-class. Unfortunately, I don't have much practical combat ability, and even the amplification skills of the Priest class are not very effective. My only reliance should be my Life Creator, but the strength of this skill doesn't lie with me, but with my servant."

In some ways, Li Lan's physical body is actually quite useless; she can only barely fight some weaklings with her witch-like physique.

"Oh...I see..."

The three witches suspected that this cunning witch senior might be bluffing, but they couldn't find any evidence.

“A pastor? Actually, Yin Anni is a pastor too. Maybe you can teach her.” Sophia said happily, pulling Yin Anni to her side again.

"Oh? What exactly is it like?"

Li Lan sized up the rather petite girl. As the mascot captain of the six-person witch squad, Yin Anni, as a rabbit-like beastman, was indeed quite cute, much more mature than the average loli, yet more childish than the average girl.

Looking up along the long, gray-white wavy hair, the most striking feature is a pair of long, dark gray ears that hang down to the sides of the head, each a full twenty centimeters long, like ornaments.

"These are rabbit ears? They're not like the anime/manga I imagined!"

Indeed, it's different. In all the otaku games Li Lan has played, most of the bunny ears are sticking up high.

Now that I think about it, a 20-centimeter-long ear that can stand so firmly must have cartilage inside, right? If not, wouldn't a droopy ear be more realistic?

Just like bra cups, expecting a G-cup to stand as tall as Mount Everest without wearing a bra is just wishful thinking.

Sigh, I feel like I'm overthinking things. Li Lan concealed her complicated thoughts and listened for a while.

It turns out that this girl is also a priest, and she also went through a particularly painful period in the early stages. However, unlike Li Lan's priest, the girl's priesthood is more inclined towards restoration.