Chapter 232: The Ultimate Final Cage

A stream of pitch-black unknown substance, resembling gas yet flowing like slime, continuously seeped from the crystal, gathering in the container at the end of the tubular device and slowly settling down. The expression on the face of the Miss Thief operating the device grew more peculiar.

“Wow… This looks so disgusting. Why is there something like this in a stone that looks like a mirror?”

“This should be some sort of material formed after a concentration of energy reaches a certain level. It seems to have caused the crystals in the Mirror Valley to mutate, but this thing…”

Miss Vilyric looked the other party up and down again.

Miss Le Qiao Qiao now resembled a janitor thoroughly cleaning a large piece of machinery, using that vacuum-like device issued by Lingyin Fairy Island, which really looked like a vacuum cleaner, to sweep through every corner of the massive crystal, repeatedly sucking in those black gaseous mists into the container at the end.

It really feels… like the image of Lingyin Fairy Island is getting weirder and weirder. Shouldn’t they be the kind of Taoist force playing with flying swords, spirit talismans, and magical elixirs? What kind of thought process would lead them to create instruments that feel so… technological?

While the storm of thoughts swirled in her mind, Miss Vilyric nonetheless kept a close eye on Miss Le Qiao Qiao’s work.

It wasn’t out of fear that she wouldn’t work hard, but this “polluted pseudo-mirror” was quite dangerous; any creature that came into contact with it might undergo unexplained mutations at any time. The Priestess’s intention in not getting her hands dirty herself was to broadly assess the specific threat level of this substance through Le Qiao Qiao, who was physically the weakest among them.

There was no particular objective; she was simply curious.

The contaminated silver crystal stood at a height of a person, while the “vacuum cleaner” issued by Lingyin Fairy Island was only a size of a few palms. To thoroughly cleanse every corner of the “pseudo-mirror” would naturally take a considerable amount of time.

In fact, up to just now, Miss Le Qiao Qiao had been operating this device for a whole half hour.

“Ha, finally done!”

At last, the beeping of the alarm gradually softened, and the “vacuum cleaner” no longer extracted more of the unknown black mist. The exhausted Miss Thief finally let go of the rod in her hand, collapsing to the ground and panting like a little dog.

“Thanks for your hard work. Any feelings?”

The few onlookers who were standing a bit further away approached. The Priestess casually cast a low-level recovery magic on Le Qiao Qiao, who then barely ceased her heavy breathing, managing to stand up with the support of Hong Yan.

“Not really any special feelings… just tired, incredibly tired. It feels like I hung upside down on a beam all night training endurance; I can hardly muster the energy. And I was just sweeping this thing over the stone, what’s so strange about that?”

“Not able to muster energy, huh…”

Miss Vilyric understood Le Qiao Qiao’s abilities very well. Although the “Peak” realm wasn’t impressively strong here, and was even at the bottom tier, having a level over 30 was already sufficient to run like the wind and carry heavy loads, running ten to twenty miles without panting. How could she be nearly unable to get up from just doing a bit of cleaning?

“It’s because of this little thing.”

Xiao Kong bent down to pick up the “vacuum cleaner” rod discarded by the Miss Thief, weighing it with her cat paw.

“The ‘Destruction’ factor has strong pollution properties. Once this world’s spiritual energy comes into contact with it, it will quickly undergo mutations, so this device should rely on absorbing biological energy to operate. It doesn’t have any spiritual energy reserves of its own.”

Upon hearing this, the Priestess quickly understood.

“I see, no wonder they need to select strong enough individuals for this task…”

Not only do they have to resist the erosion of the polluted “pseudo-mirror,” but they must also contribute their bodily energy to power the device. This is not something just anyone can accomplish. Looking at Miss Le Qiao Qiao’s exhausted appearance, she probably just barely met the minimum standard.

After glancing back at the now smooth silver crystal, which once again reflected the clear images of everyone present, the Priestess nodded slightly.

“Alright, let’s rest for a bit, and then we’ll continue on. This is just the beginning.”

…

The participants only had three days to clean the surrounding mutated crystals. According to the Lingyin messenger, the next stage of this “competition” would begin at noon on the third day.

The first day of the competition was already the 22nd of July in the year 1000 of the Four Saints Calendar, and there were only five days left until the scheduled arrival of the fairy island.

Even Miss Vilyric did not fully grasp what the so-called next stage entailed, nor did she know how many contingencies Lingyin Fairy Island had prepared behind the scenes. However, based on the intel previously revealed by Ming Lian Yun, she could at least speculate a bit.

From the situation of the four countries’ armies surrounding the Mirror Valley, it seemed likely that the next phase would involve a defensive battle centered around this valley, with top-tier experts from the Ancient Spirit Realm entering the valley for some purpose, while the army’s mission would be to ensure external factors did not interfere.

Clearing the “pseudo-mirror” must be a way to preemptively eliminate any potential destabilizing factors that might erupt later.

In the competition devoid of much of a competitive atmosphere, three days slipped away in no time.

While constantly searching for and repairing the mutated crystals, or what could be called the foundational point of the “Heaven and Earth Seal,” Vilyric and her group gradually moved deeper into the Mirror Valley as planned.

Along the way, the Priestess and her companions encountered several teams, but they merely brushed past one another before separating again. Occasionally, they would come across some exhausted participants unable to continue, watching them retreat toward the periphery with faces full of despair.

Without a doubt, those who couldn’t even last through the first half of the phase were practically eliminated.

By the way, although the Mirror Valley was filled with crystal prisms and referred to as one of the ten most dangerous places in the Ancient Spirit Realm, it wasn’t devoid of life. In fact, there were flowers, grass, trees, and creatures present. Large animals were indeed rare, but small critters like birds, wild chickens, and rabbits were not hard to find.

However… while the area was sparsely populated, there wasn’t a trace of any evil demons in the entire Mirror Valley, nor could a single spirit be seen. It seemed the ley lines’ spiritual energy was completely bound deep below, rarely transmitting to the surface. One wonders why that is.

Even though they had ample supplies beforehand, maintaining one’s condition while performing heavily burdensome tasks outdoors naturally required good food, drinks, and rest. Thus, the wilderness survival skills learned during the preliminary selection were put to full use.

Looking back, Lingyin Fairy Island surely set up the preliminary selection mode intentionally. Not only for Dongyuanzhi Kingdom, but likely for all four countries.

As noon approached on the third day, that is the 24th of July in the year 1000, Vilyric and her group successfully reached an internal valley that only comprised less than one-tenth of the entire Mirror Valley.

The sights here were even more bizarre and fantastical.

This was a valley within a valley.

Much more magnificent and towering silver crystals rose from the ground here, forming a connecting wall like fortifications, creating an indescribable “Valley of Mirrors.”

Broadly speaking, it resembled a gigantic wooden barrel.

This entire inner valley had no openings; its height was nearly one hundred meters, with a smooth surface like a mirror. Moreover, given the nearly indestructible properties of this special crystal, if one didn’t have flying capabilities, even a strong individual would likely have no way to enter.

However, should someone truly fly into the Mirror Valley from afar and look down from above, they would find that the entire valley, including the outer valley, was covered by some kind of seemingly illusory yet effectively sealing invisible barrier that completely blocked the sky.

In other words, creatures within the Mirror Valley, especially in the inner valley, couldn’t ascend to the sky. In a sense, this was probably a securely enclosed… cage.

   

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