Chapter 1219: Section 1220: The Gate of Phase
The darkness ahead was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen.
However, at that moment, Wodell gently tossed the oil lamp he was holding in his hand.
The lamp finally landed steadily in the center of a small hill made of white bones, and with the help of the dim light, one could vaguely see a tall throne not far away.
Is this the Darklands? A pile of skeletons and a decrepit throne?
As Angel was pondering this, Wodell lightly tapped the void with his bony scepter, and a cold breeze blew past, driving the light of the oil lamp further away.
The drifting light skimmed over the sky, burning a hole in the darkness.
Following the flight of the light, Angel faintly made out the outlines of some man-made structures deep within the darker shadows.
In his bewilderment, the once-flickering dim firelight suddenly burst into brilliance, like a sun, illuminating the darkness of an entire region!
The light dispelled the profound darkness, revealing before them a grand city that startled everyone!
This city had a similar style to some towns seen outside earlier, but its buildings were not in ruins; multi-storied buildings were densely packed, the streets were narrow but the pavement was laid flat, each street had lifelike statues standing guard, with various colors accentuating the details of the patterns, and primordial towers, ancient as if connected to the darkness by the towering walls!
The city was filled with gleaming white bones! Countless undead fluttered between the high-rises!
But this was not yet sufficient to be termed “grand.” What truly shocked Angel was what loomed above the city!
Suspended in midair was a colossal, immensely vast—white bone gate!
In terms of height, it was at least fifty meters tall.
The gate was firmly shut now, with various mysterious patterns carved on its surface. The gateframe was enveloped by heaps of white bones of differing shapes.
From a distance, the gateframe continuously shed something. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be bones from the gate’s pillars, falling as if snowing, bones rattling like winter snow!
One of those skeletons fell not far from them. Looking closely, it was the skeletal remains of an Abyssal Crocodile. When it hit the ground, a chilly red light flashed through the empty eye sockets of the crocodile’s skull.
Its gaze, filled with resentment, swept over Angel and the others.
However, when the Abyssal Crocodile skeleton saw Wodell, it paused for a moment, refraining from advancing and instead turned around to leap ten meters high, disappearing into the city’s darkness after a few jumps.
“The Continent of Yuantan has just recovered from overturning, hence this gate, which had fallen into disuse, is starting to re-anchor itself to various spatial coordinates. It’s because of this that some tremors have caused the clinging skeletons to fall off,” Wodell explained.
While Angel was still in awe of the grand city of the undead and the terrifying gate of bones, Greerwu, who was behind him, seemed to have thought of something and, pointing to the bone gate in the sky, said, “Could this be a Phase Door?”
A Phase Door? Angel swiftly turned back to look at Wodell.
Wodell nodded, “Indeed, you’re a descendant of the Demon Nobles—the Fire-pattern Demons. Well-informed, this is indeed a Phase Door.”
Greerwu, still in shock, was taken aback by this sudden praise. A blush of embarrassment crept over his face, and he said somewhat shyly, “I’m not a Fire-pattern Demon yet, so your praise won’t make me happy now.”
Angel ignored Greerwu, whose emotions were clear and who was evidently pleased, instead staring intently at the gate in the sky.
This was a Phase Door acknowledged by Wodell!
Fafnir had once informed him that the Abyss had its many Phase Faces, each as vast in space and time as the four realms of the Wizards’ Realm. Therefore, to reach other Phase Faces, one had to go through a Phase Door!
Therefore, a Phase Door is an extremely important transit hub that could not possibly be left in the control of ordinary demons.
Generally, Phase Doors were guarded by Demon Lords! And those who possess a Phase Door are either Demon Lords with strength comparable to a Demon God or lords with strong backing.
So, according to Angel’s judgment, it was unlikely that he would be able to come into contact with a Phase Door any time soon.
But unexpectedly, there was one right here?!
Could it be that Wodell’s identity was… a Demon Lord?
Angel suddenly remembered that although Wodell had introduced himself earlier, he had not revealed his true identity. Since they were at the Ancient Cold Ruins, Angel had assumed Wodell was one of the indigenous people. Perhaps, he was actually a demon?
Perceiving the confusion in Angel’s eyes, Wodell explained, “I once, indeed, was a native of the Abyss.”
“The original establishment of the Phase Doors was crafted by the Abyssal Will inheriting the Yuet Eyes of the Abyss, initially distributed among the few overlords of the Abyss at the time, monopolizing travel to other Phase Faces. Later, some powerful Demon Gods also managed to create Phase Doors, and that gradually became more common… though to call it common is still an overstatement, as a single Phase Face would have no more than ten doors at most.”
“And this Phase Door, named Skeletal, was the very first fashioned by the Abyssal Eye of Condensed Abyss, given to the king among the indigenous people at that time — Kansamovich. He was the ancient King of the Ice Age, whose strength was nearly comparable to that of the most powerful Demon Lords.”
“Kansamovich installed the Skeletal Door within an Abyss stronghold in the inner layers, but as the Ice Age gradually ended, he took the door to the Continent of Yuantan before his death, where it has since remained in the Darklands.”
“Because of this door, many covetous gazes brimming with greedy, malevolent thoughts flocked here, leading to several battles that forced countless indigenous people to leave the Continent of Yuantan. It wasn’t until later, when a Demon God crafted new Phase Doors, that this place slowly began to find peace.”
Upon hearing Wodell’s explanation, Angel came to a realization, “So you’re saying that this is a Phase Door belonging exclusively to the indigenous people?”
“Yes.”
Angel: “If I wish to leave this place, should I go through a Phase Door?”
“If you desire to travel to another phase facet, I can send you away through the Phase Door. However, as the continent recovers from its upheaval, the spatial energy is also restabilizing, and the Phase Door needs to re-anchor its coordinates, which might take some time.”
To travel to another phase facet was indeed something Angel had considered, as it could provide an opportunity to reach other wizards’ realms.
For instance, the Western Lands, the Eastern Realm, the Northern Territory.
It is said that other wizards’ realms may offer access to the Origin World.
The Origin World boasts the peak combat power of all wizards’ realms and is the destination most coveted by wizards. Unfortunately, the channels from the Southern Domain to the Origin World have been deliberately sabotaged. Hence, all wizards in the Southern Domain who have broken through to become legends eventually leave for the lack of a route to the Origin World.
Even though Angel yearned for other wizards’ realms, as well as for the Origin World, now was not the time to leave the Southern Domain.
Not to mention Jon’s situation had yet to stabilize, making it impossible for him to leave; furthermore, Toby’s curse had yet to be lifted, and even though the “Domain Field” could temporarily mask the Calamity Curse, it did not mean the curse was lifted. He still needed to travel to Ice Valley to seek Odeclass’s help.
Most importantly, after journeying through the Abyss, Angel had grown even more aware of the importance of strength. He had no intention of venturing into dangerous territories again until he had obtained stable power.
Passing through a Phase Door to another phase facet would inevitably lead him to other abysses. It was said that the Barren Facet was already the lowest among the major facets of the Abyss. If he went to other more formidable abysses without the ability to protect himself, how would he find a way to the realms of other wizards?
Considering this, Angel pondered, “I have no plans to travel to other phase facets for the time being. Could I go to the Ancient Cold Ruins in the outside world from here? That area on the surface of the Abyss.”
The outside world’s Ancient Cold Ruins were very close to Ice Valley. Even without using the Gravity Meridian, merely riding a gondola would take about half a day to reach them.
If it were possible to go directly to the Ancient Cold Ruins of the outside world from the Continent of Yuantan, that would naturally be ideal.
Angel also believed that since the Ancient Cold Ruins could transmit him to this part of the Continent of Yuantan, there must also be a passageway to leave.
“You wish to go to Morlay Land? That place is indeed mistaken for the Ancient Cold Ruins in the outside world,” Wodell understood with clarity.
“Is that possible?”
Wodell thought for a moment: “Going there isn’t an issue, as this place is indeed connected to Morlay Land. However, to go there, we must wait for Garm to awaken.”
“What is Garm?”
“The guardian beast of the Death Realm, it is a servant of the Deep Dungeon Queen.”
As Wodell continued to speak, Angel gained a rough understanding of Garm, which was a Hellhound slumbering within the city guards of the Ancient Cold Ruins.
Hellhounds were not rare, but its master was quite fearsome.
The Deep Dungeon Queen, a potent ancient being who controlled the dark prison of death, even Kulangduo served her. Having followed the Deep Dungeon Queen for many years, Garm’s power was also incredibly formidable, even comparable to a Half-step Legend.
However, two thousand years ago, Garm was sent on a covert mission by the Deep Dungeon Queen and returned severely wounded.
Hence, Kulangduo brought Garm to the Continent of Yuantan to recuperate using the dark energy of this place.
And Garm’s chosen resting spot was precisely the entrance leading to Morlay Land.
“So you mean, Garm is blocking the passage? And to leave, we must wait until it awakens?”
Wodell nodded.
“But I recall outsiders occasionally entering the Continent of Yuantan from the outside world. How can that be?” Angel frowned, recalling the face of Gusea.
“Garm is the executor of death; its frequency of awakening is not low, but it often awakens for just an instant. Whenever it awakens, it will subconsciously release an aura of death. Those who fall into the Continent of Yuantan from the outside world are generally the unfortunate ones struck by that aura of death.”