Twenty jars containing corrupted objects, and an area with one jar possibly containing good stuff.
This victory was undoubtedly immense.
After dealing with Oceania, Wen Xishu did two things.
He used one instance of the "Godslayer’s Finger" ability.
It was used to identify the twenty jars arranged by Oceania.
He identified them twice.
This was out of caution, fearing one thing: he anticipated the Shoe Woman, but the Shoe Woman anticipated his anticipation...
So, to avoid such situations, Wen Xishu chose to use the finger twice for identification.
Sure enough, the Godslayer’s Finger reacted to two random jars chosen by Oceania...
This meant that indeed, the two jars contained corrupted things.
This made everyone convinced.
Xiaojin, Yue Yun, and Nissen strictly guarded the twenty jars.
The next step was opening the jars, and Ling Fu’s group continued; they still needed to open the jars.
Wen Xishu assigned Zheng Zai to supervise.
He, then, found four jars.
Among the four jars, one special jar was hidden, one that Oceania, the Shoe Woman, believed should never be opened.
Wen Xishu thought for a moment and decided to open it himself.
There could be danger inside; this matter was not absolute.
Could the Shoe Woman have played a trick of using one’s own methods against oneself?
Of course, such a chain of suspicion, once formed, would be endless.
So, Wen Xishu decided to open it himself, for no other reason than his high Anti-Magic Value.
Plus, he had the skill "Disorder."
Wen Xishu opened the first jar, and there was a reward immediately, a playlist.
Chanting this playlist in the prayer room could bring peace to everyone’s hearts. Its effect wasn’t strong but could quickly calm or relax everyone from a state of panic or excitement.
Wen Xishu felt it was of little use. Taking this playlist out would yield the same effect, calming and soothing the mind.
Wen Xishu decided to keep it to give to Ah Miao later.
At this moment, someone from Ling Fu’s team began opening a jar, and what they opened was not empty but a shadow.
Fortunately, Bao Longtao was there to contain the shadow.
Wen Xishu proceeded to open the second jar.
The second jar was empty.
Next was the third jar, which had a fifty percent chance of being a jar the Shoe Woman absolutely didn’t want to appear.
Wen Xishu thought for a moment and chose a jar that looked older.
At the same time, the third member of Ling Fu’s team began opening a jar.
Wen Xishu ignored this.
He genuinely believed in a bit of mysticism, so he was truly praying.
"So many whirlpools... If one whirlpool delays me too many days, I can’t imagine how long this Great Devouring will take to clear."
Wen Xishu whispered in his heart:
"Give me a powerful tool, is that too much to ask?"
After saying this, Wen Xishu smashed the jar open, feeling like the protagonist in a comic about to have a game-changing discovery.
Of course, it turned out to be an illusion.
The jar was empty.
He laughed at himself, indeed, luck was never something to trust in.
This time, Wen Xishu didn’t smash the jar but calmly opened the fourth jar’s stopper.
Then, he poured out the contents of the jar.
A reward appeared.
This time, what emerged in front of Wen Xishu was a piece of parchment. Of course, the parchment didn’t contain any messages from someone in the future.
Wen Xishu stared at the parchment and saw the following note.
[Mysterious parchment, seemingly recording some ritual and a story.]
Wen Xishu didn’t find any textual introduction about the ritual but saw the patterns, guessing the ritual probably required the "player" to decipher it.
But the story, the parchment did record it.
[Item Name: Mysterious Parchment (Upper)]
[Legend says a witch from the Middle Ages found a substance pronounced as "Tar" in spells. This substance granted the witch immense power.]
[The first witch seemed to resonate with the Tar and realized an apocalypse. She wrote a prophecy about the future world’s destruction... But the Pope at that time believed this was pure rumor. The witch’s end-of-world prophecy greatly affected the Pope...]
[The witch was burned alive, the Tar left her body, but ultimately ended up on the Pope’s granddaughter, Bonnie.]
[After the witch’s death, Bonnie became the nation’s heartthrob. Everyone, including her grandfather the Pope, wished to kneel at her feet and kiss her shoes. But one day, when Bonnie lost her shoes...]
[People realized, the witch’s power didn’t pass to anyone, but to an object.]
[This might be, as far as known in human history, the earliest "magical object."]
The Pope, the witch.
Wen Xishu didn’t expect the story’s content wasn’t an apocalyptic background but indeed happened much earlier?
Tar.
It was his first time seeing this term.
Wen Xishu realized, could the sealed item this time be an origin-level existence?
"Could it be that long ago... someone already obtained certain powers?"
Not everyone mutated around the apocalypse; some might have encountered it hundreds or even thousands of years ago? But due to the culture, technological limits, and ignorance of the time...
So, some revelations from centuries ago might have been misunderstood as false information?