Chapter 180: The Connecting Thread, the Reborn Gem

The structure of the Valley of Magic is quite simple; a river flows through it from front to back, serving as the important and only water source for the living beings here. The outskirts of the valley lead to the edge of a sealed little world, which Vilyric has already scanned with SP, finding no value in development.

While I was a bit curious about the original source of this stream, there was no way to verify it now, and it certainly wasn’t the time to ponder such trivial matters.

At the end of the river, in the distance of the valley, stood a temple.

The style of the temple was very similar to the one in Moonshadow Valley dedicated to the ancestor, the White Wolf God, indicating they were built according to some fixed specifications.

Moreover, it was the only place where the Priestess couldn’t delve deeper with SP. Just like Tiyelu’s sacred ground, this temple was safeguarded by some invisible high-level force, and unless broken through with brute strength or by meeting certain conditions, it didn’t seem easy to gain entry.

Since that’s the case, let’s go and take a look myself.

Without activating the 【Wings of God】 for acceleration, Vilyric moved cautiously toward the temple area, continuing to observe the surrounding ruins at a rather slow pace.

In just over ten minutes, she arrived at the front of the temple.

“Hmm… it seems there are really no living beings or enemies lingering here.”

The girl muttered to herself.

SP is undoubtedly a convenient and powerful ability, but the Priestess has never blindly trusted and relied on it. Just because she didn’t detect anything didn’t mean there were no threats; strong beings capable of evading high-level scans could pose a real danger.

Thus, Vilyric didn’t dare to let down her guard but chose to advance slowly and cautiously, testing the situation.

After all, genuine god-level enemies had already appeared outside; anything could pop up in this last vestige of the Demon God.

However, since she had temporarily secured her safety, she decided to try opening the door.

Vilyric shifted her gaze from her surroundings to the temple in front of her.

Unlike the surrounding desolation and decay, this temple was exceptionally well-preserved; its clean and bright stone walls immediately gave off a refreshing feeling.

Compared to the White Wolf Temple in Moonshadow Valley, although this temple’s specifications were similar, its scale and style were far more exquisite and compact, occupying roughly half the area of the former.

Vilyric reached out to the tightly closed gate and pushed it with all her strength.

Not even a budge.

“Not letting me in…”

Sigh, it was unexpected yet expected.

The physical strength of the Priestess, while far less than that of a warrior and dragonkin like Xiao Guang, was still close to twenty thousand points. Logically, a metal door that wasn’t particularly heavy should have yielded to a bit of force, allowing it to physically open.

But since this place was protected by the legacy of the Demon God, simple brute force definitely wouldn’t work. While using strong magic to blast it open was an option, such a crude method would essentially make her an enemy of any potential guardians within the temple, and explaining it to Tiyelu would be difficult…

“Ugh… if only there was some kind of administrator or something, at least I could talk to it and clarify that I mean no harm…”

That said, the golden light at the tip of the staff in her hand started to glow with a magnificent radiance; after all, she really couldn’t think of any normal way to enter the temple right now. In a sense, Vilyric could indeed be viewed as an intruder.

She couldn’t just stand at the door waiting for someone inside to come out, could she?

The golden light from the 【Eternal Staff · Heart of the World】 swelled more and more. Vilyric deliberately slowed down the charging process, wanting to see if demonstrating this kind of offensive intent could lure out any potential guardians of the temple.

But unfortunately, after dozens of seconds, there was still no response.

The girl shook her head in frustration.

“What a pity… I guess I’ll have to say sorry then, Holy… hmm?”

Change, it really happened.

But this change completely exceeded Vilyric’s expectations.

A pure black, round gem, reflecting a gorgeous halo, shot out from the void beside the Priestess, circling around her three times before unleashing a dazzling colorful light!

Huh, what is this?!

Vilyric stared blankly, focusing on the floating black gem for a long time, before suddenly realizing.

Isn’t this… the 【Demon God Gem (Fragment)】 she accidentally acquired in a hidden chamber beneath the forest not long after arriving in this world?! When did it turn into this?!

Because she had tried several times before, this clearly relic related to the Demon God Olivya had never shown any effect or response. Disappointed, the Priestess had tossed it into the corner of her backpack, no longer paying attention. Who would have thought that at this moment, this gem taken from the top of the Demon God’s staff would inexplicably regain its brilliance and play a significant role?

What on earth is going on? How did it get repaired?

Originally, the 【Demon God Gem (Fragment)】 was dull and emitted extremely weak energy fluctuations to Vilyric, let alone floating in the air and moving around on its own. If not for its basic unchanged shape, the Priestess would almost have thought it was some other special gear.

Even more unbelievable was that the temple, which had shut its doors firmly against her, actually began to slowly open under the radiant light!

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck her mind, like an epiphany; it felt as if she understood something.

So that’s how it is!

She recalled that shortly after arriving in this world, when she tracked that villager named Carl to the hidden chamber under the Dark Forest, he had explained to the pursuing Philena that he placed that gem there and left it on the hand of a mysterious person protected by magical beasts, who bore a green snake-like tattoo.

And later, in the Demon Town’s prison, when questioning the Ghost Thieves’ vice-leader Oliver, he also mentioned that the Summoner Sylvester Burwell had a green snake-like pattern on the back of his hand.

Because of this common trait, and considering both instances were somewhat related to the artifacts of the Demon God, Vilyric had hypothesized more than once that Sylvester was the one who placed the 【Demon God Gem (Fragment)】 in that hidden location in the Dark Forest.

If! If everything matches as she suspected, then what could Sylvester’s purpose for going to such lengths for this?

Until today, Vilyric had never been able to comprehend it, but after witnessing the gem’s revival and the temple door opening, she finally understood.

Opening the temple door in the Valley of Magic requires a token, and that token is very likely the former personal artifact of the Demon God.

The Demon God Olivya, as the 【God of Magic】, had magic as her core source of power. Conversely, theoretically, as long as there was a sufficient amount of magic, one could potentially reproduce a considerable part of the Demon God’s power.

In other words, as long as she continuously… continuously, poured magic into the damaged Demon God gem, this once precious item derived from the Demon God could regain its original brilliance!

So, where in the world is the place with the most magic?

   

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