The dimly lit hall was filled with a variety of seemingly magnificent decorations.
The entire hall was adorned in gold and blood-red.
Countless figures clad in blood-red robes moved about the hall.
Perfect skulls were embedded throughout the hall, dotted with golden liquid.
Upon closer inspection, the hall's blood-red color was surprisingly replaced by blood.
This bright red blood flowed through the grooves of the area, as if flowing through veins.
A sweet aroma permeated the entire area, with no trace of foul or foul odor.
The hall's highest level required 777 stairs to reach.
Here lay a stacked secret chamber.
Kalutor, clad in tattered robes, knelt on the floor.
He was surrounded by various decorations made of piled bones, forming part of a ritual.
"Great Master, I have failed. After spending so much time, I still failed.
I have betrayed your trust in me, I..."
Kalutor's voice was filled with sorrow.
"No, Kalutor."
A dull voice echoed.
Hearing this, Kalutor quickly shut his mouth and knelt even more respectfully.
"This was just an accident. You are not to blame. The Church of the Four Gods has arrived. Your failure was inevitable."
The voice was so understanding.
"But I have wasted so much of your time..."
"No, just a short while."
Faced with the failure of a plan that had been underway for decades, the owner of the voice did not feel the slightest bit of pain. Instead, he was in a mood to comfort Kalutor, the leader of the plan.
"Your kindness allows me to..."
"Alright, let's stop here. I don't have much time to talk."
Hearing this, Kalutor nodded repeatedly and closed his mouth.
"Go find those guys. They'll know what we're facing. I hope you succeed this time, Kalutor."
After saying this, his voice faded into the secret room.
Kalutor made a strange gesture: "Farewell, Master."
He remained in this position for several minutes before slowly rising from the ground.
He walked out of the secret room.
He was now in the Giant Tree's Habitat.
...
Arka looked at the map of the Giant Tree's Habitat, at a red mark that had remained fixed on it.
This red mark had remained there since he emerged from the flower. It was almost certain that this was the fixed location of Kalutor's cult.
Alka then put the map away.
It had become almost a habit for him to consult the map every once in a while.
It was a shame that even if he knew the exact location of the cult, it wouldn't be of much use now.
The information he'd received from Gilliana had already pinpointed the locations of most cults in the Giant Tree's Roost.
It didn't mean much, as that was the cultists' territory.
"According to records, the most notable feature of the Devouring Mouth demon is its portal, resembling a maw of flesh.
This is its most iconic ability, typically only wielded by its most important followers."
Simon flipped through the tome in his hand, reading the description of the Devouring Mouth.
"The earliest records of this demon date back to before the War of Gods, while later records date back to the Demon Tide a thousand years ago.
From then on, this demon became active again.
The Saralan Empire was nearly destroyed by his schemes."
Simon added, "This Saralan Empire was the site of the Demon Tide's eruption."
Through Simon's explanation, everyone gained a basic understanding of the existence believed in by their opponents.
"Could it be possible that we face this demon directly when we kill Karuto?" Narvi asked.
If that's the case, then when will we finally be able to defeat this damned monster?
Alka shook his head. "Unlikely. He probably can't borrow much power from this demon.
He should only be able to use the Devouring Mouth's ability to teleport long distances."
Both his escape, that time and yesterday's at Arati, relied on this same trick. From the strength displayed, it was clear that this guy was still at the mid-level of the fourth stage, not overly impressive.
After all, based on their understanding, the Land of All Spirits was already at its limit, able to withstand the entry of a mid-level demon.
This was also due to the reduced control of the Flower Fairy due to her resurgence.
After a brief exchange of information regarding Kaluto, Alka gently tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention.
"The threat posed by the undead at the border of life and death has subsided, and this area is already beginning to push back. Reclaim those lost areas. Now is the time to reconsider our original goal."
Everyone knew what he meant by this goal.
The Nafas family's treasure.
"Won't we wait until the Flower Fairy revives or they retake this area?" Sofia asked.
Alka shook his head. "At their current rate, they'll have a hard time reaching our destination. They'll have to wait until the Flower Fairies fully recover before they can fully reclaim this lost territory.
But the place we're heading to is safe. There are no more garrisons. All the undead forces in that area were completely wiped out in the last battle."
What's hindering the Flower People from reclaiming their lost territory isn't simply the undead; it's the negative energy they bring with them. It's even the chaos created by the interweaving of death energy and life force.
It can be simply understood as a crude, weakened version of the environment at the border between life and death.
It always takes time and effort to repair it.
"It's still a long time before the Flower Fairies recover. Without the energy supply, the demons will no longer pour forth.
Now is a rare opportunity."
Everyone nodded at Alka's words. Since that's been said, then naturally we have to take it. As Alka said, the situation is almost over for now.
Even if those cultists want to make a comeback, they'll need time to prepare.
Now that the decision has been made, Sofia asked, "So when are we going to set off?"
"Now," Alka said with a smile.
"We'll go slowly, after all, it's still quite a distance."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded and quickly prepared.
They quickly said goodbye to the people in the fortress and boarded the Flying Swallow ship to the location of the Nafas family treasure vault.
Alka looked at the blue dot on the map.
The entire map had many more white dots than before, and these white dots indicated the time when these areas had fallen.
Therefore, Alka rarely clicked on these white dots to learn about them.
The white dots were located at the locations of countless fallen villages and settlements.
What these white spots represented was self-evident.
They were the property left behind by the deceased Flower People.
Although they were now ownerless,
Alka had no desire to collect them.
…
After several days of sailing,
they passed by the troops ahead.
The entire occupied area was noticeably grimier than the lush, fresh air they had previously experienced on the island.
It had been polluted by the undead, who had occupied the area for so long.
Julia could clearly sense that the surroundings had become slightly more chaotic, akin to the border between life and death.
This was evident in the way the originally emerald green waters had turned a pale, dark green.
Wandering undead could also be seen.
Judging from the clothing and rotting flesh of some of the undead, it was clear that these were fresh.
They had all been converted recently.
Their clothing still bore a distinct Flower People style.
These were civilians trapped in villages and towns during the undead onslaught, unable to escape in time.
"By the way, how's Piaoqiu Village?" Jason suddenly asked, sitting in the boat.
After all, it was the first village they encountered upon arriving in the Zehai.
Simon raised his head, thought for a moment, and said, "If I remember correctly, the village is behind the fortress, not far from the border. It must have been one of the first areas to fall."
Hearing this, Jason simply nodded silently.
"Don't be too depressed. I've checked it out," Alka suddenly said.
He had actually seen intelligence on Piaoqiu Village before; after all, it was one of the few places they knew and understood.
"After the large-scale attack, most of the villagers there retreated with the head gardener and his men, and the militiamen were also incorporated into the ranks."
Hearing this, Jason nodded.
While these villagers might not all be doing well, at least they weren't all dead.
For them, this was quite good news.
After all, it was the first place they had come to know and understand.
"Why not stop by and take a look this time?" Alka said, looking at the white dot above the area where Piaoqiu Village was located.
Hearing this, Sofia turned and glanced at him.
He didn't say much, just nodded.
You know, Piaoqiu Village isn't on the way.
Their treasure point would take them another half day to reach.
But since the leader had spoken, and it only took a short while, no one minded.
Soon, they spotted a number of spherical houses floating on the water in the distance.
Where there once were dozens of spheres, there were now only a few scattered around, many shrunken and collapsed, with only a few remaining on the surface.
The village had been completely destroyed, and reconstruction was unlikely.
"I quite like these floating houses on the sea. What a pity," Lucelia sighed, sitting on Alka's shoulder.
When they first saw the Floating Ball Village, they were truly stunned by the scenery.
The village, floating on the sea, and its circular vine houses made of plants, were very interesting, giving them a sense of its truly unique style.
They slowly passed through the village on the Flying Swallow.
Besides the surrounding wreckage, the crowd also saw numerous signs of battle.
And some broken bones.
Now, only a few bones remained, still lingering on the wreckage.
"Stop," Alka suddenly said.
Sofia had anticipated this and brought the boat to a halt.
Alka left the boat and boarded a largely destroyed floating globe. Inside, shrunken vines could be seen, mostly withered, weighing down some fallen furniture.
There were no signs of fighting, no bloodstains, and no remains of human remains.
There was only destruction and ruin.
Alka bent slightly at the entrance and entered.
Disappeared before the crowd.
"What was he doing there?" Simon asked, somewhat puzzled.
It was just an ordinary ruin, nothing special.
Sofia shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe there's something there."
Although she said that, she had a feeling this house belonged to someone they'd met in the village before.
Arka walked in, peering through the crack at the white light within.
In a crack not far away, a wardrobe woven of vines and wooden strips lay.
Half of the wardrobe had collapsed, the vines above weighing down the rest, and some had broken and clung to the top.
The wardrobe was nearly completely destroyed.
Through the crack, Arka caught a glimpse of a faint white light, the outline of a white treasure.
With a gentle wave of her hand, Arka cleared away the vines that were blocking her path and reached the bottom of the shattered wardrobe.
Manipulating the surrounding debris, she opened the remaining intact half.
A pile of wine bottles lay at the bottom of the wardrobe.
The wine bottle was stored in a container woven from vines, discreetly covered with a layer of gray cloth.
A white light clung to it.
This was a white treasure.
[Wine for Friends]
[Difficulty: Children]
[Popularity: 9]
[Treasure Description: A precious flower wine, Manmiao Yuanxiang, collected by Queke of Piaoqiu Village.
This will be used to treat friends the next time they meet. This is the wine they once promised.]
This white dot had appeared before, but Alka had recently focused his attention on the Nafas family's treasure.
Of course, one should pay attention to new white dots appearing nearby. After realizing that it was the Piaoqiu Village he had previously visited,
he naturally paid even more attention.
This was the information displayed after he clicked on it, and it was also the reason why he had come to the ruins of Piaoqiu Village.
The popularity was only nine.
Those who once knew each other, once owned, now became ownerless treasures.
Alka squatted down, lifted the vine-wrapped pile of wine into his arms, and carefully walked out.
The crowd outside watched Alka board the boat with a box of wine.
"Let's go, to the treasure hunt."
The boat slowly started, sailing out of Piaoqiu Village and back in the direction they had come.
Juanlu looked at the wine in his hand, the gray cloth covering it now ripped away.
The bottle was turquoise, made of some kind of translucent cyan glass.
The bottle was stopped with a cork.
The bottle was also engraved with delicate floral designs.
"This is a beautiful, distant fragrance. I remember drinking it in the Land of Fragrance," Juanlu said, looking at it.
Alka smiled and nodded, placing the wine on the boat. "One bottle each, please."
There were ten bottles in the wine basket, and there were exactly ten of them.
Arka took one, and the others also held one. When Narvi reached for the last bottle, Arka held his hand and said, "I'll give you half of mine. This one's for a friend."
Hearing this, some looked puzzled, while others suddenly understood.
Nervi was the only one who seemed a little bewildered, but since Arka had said so, he naturally nodded.
Arka then took a clean wine glass, poured half of the wine from his bottle into it, and handed it to Narvi.
With his other hand, he opened the bottle of wine.
"Come on, let's drink! To our friends!"
"Cheers!"
Arka picked up the two bottles in his hands and clinked them with the others.
He gulped down the remaining half of his bottle in one gulp.
The aroma of alcohol, not too strong, mingled with the fragrance of flowers.
Although it was clearly alcohol, it had an unusually sobering quality that lifted one's spirits.
Gently sniffing, it felt as if one's nose were forever surrounded by the scent of flowers.
The delicate floral fragrance seemed to drift from afar.
Arka tilted the other full bottle at an angle toward the water below them and slowly poured it down.
The wine, tinged with a faint turquoise, melted into the dark green water, quickly blending into one.
But the floral fragrance within had already wafted out, lingering over the boat. It was hard to tell whether the aroma was from the wine they were drinking or from the wine pouring down from the surrounding sea.
A gentle breeze blew the aroma away.
"Is this the best wine in the Land of Spirits?" Alka asked, finishing his bottle.
Looking at the crowd, he smiled.
Then, as if answering himself, he replied,
"Yes, it is the best wine in the Land of Spirits."
The wine in the poured bottle had completely flowed into the sea, and the empty bottle was placed on the boat.
"Ah~ Good wine! It is indeed the best wine in the Land of Spirits."
Jason said, smiling broadly, pointing the bottle toward the sky.
"You were right! It is indeed the best wine in the Land of Spirits."
He and his companions drank the entire bottle in one gulp.
He burst into laughter.
Narvi savored the wine in his glass.
He looked at Alka and the others who were still talking.
It seemed the taste he was drinking was different from theirs, though he didn't understand the meaning of the wine.
A memorial service?
Accompanied by the laughter of the crowd, he inhaled the floral fragrance that wafted continuously through the air.
The floral scent was so rich.
It was completely out of place in this area that had just experienced the rampage of the undead.
Yet it seemed to foreshadow a new hope here.
Greenery seemed to have arrived.
Accompanied by the floral aroma, Narvi downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.
Just like he had before.
A rich taste, a silky feel, the floral fragrance lingering in his mouth and into his nose.
A refreshing feeling.
Along with the voices of the crowd, a farewell tinge seemed to escape his lips.
"Mm, this is truly the finest wine in this land of spirits."
"Thank you, unknown friend."