Chapter 1262: Section 1263 Manuscript
A naked maid, only clad in a white apron, stood by the Tower of Souls.
As they approached, the maid brought her legs together, knelt to the ground, and deeply bowed her head to the floor, exposing her smooth, polished back full of curves.
“Lord Sanders, the master is already in the Tower of Souls’ underground laboratory, waiting for your arrival,” the maid said, attempting to kiss Sanders’ boots, but he didn’t give her the chance and walked on with his foot raised.
As an old friend of Nis, Sanders was not unfamiliar with Soul Valley. Knowing where Nis was, he didn’t wait for the maid to lead the way and went straight to the main gate of the Tower of Souls.
Angel followed him.
Once inside the tower, they followed the spiraling staircase downward.
...
Soon, they arrived at an underground laboratory. A grey-haired old man was at an experiment table, dissecting the body of a male feathered being, while the dead soul of that male feathered being sat cross-legged above its body.
All over the laboratory, there were many busy souls which, aided by the Soul Soothing Stones, were now capable of influencing the Material Realm and thus were assisting with operating various experimental instruments.
However, even with the help of souls, upon entering the laboratory, Angel still heard the old man muttering angrily: “That damn kid, runs off in the middle of it! Angel is not as scary as a man-eating tiger, timid as a dog! Indeed, should’ve followed in Hook Dick’s footsteps.”
This grey-haired old man was Nis, and it was rare for Angel to see Nis not immersed in “pleasures” when he visited Soul Valley.
Angel didn’t understand what he was muttering about, but his mention of Hook Dick caused Angel some embarrassment.
After all, it was Angel who had killed Hook Dick.
As Nis saw Sanders and his disciple enter, he instructed the hovering feathered undead soul: “Keep an eye on your body, and call me if there’s any issue.”
The feathered undead soul nodded to Nis, watching its own body unblinkingly.
Only then did Nis let go and approached them. Rather than greeting Sanders first, he scrutinized Angel from head to toe. After a while, with some surprise in his voice, he said, “The vital blood power in your body is a bit strange. It seems to be better than even mine…”
As Nis spoke, his gaze turned toward Sanders, as if he was looking for an answer from him.
Sanders merely nodded slightly. Though he didn’t explain, his nod acknowledged the strength of Angel’s vital energy.
A gleam of desire flashed continuously in Nis’s eyes as he spoke with a hint of eagerness: “What a superb body.”
This tone made Angel shiver. During his first visit to Soul Valley, Nis had spoken in this tone, and Angel had almost been persuaded to inject himself with Charm Demon bloodline. His tone now might just be harboring ill intentions!
And indeed, as Angel suspected, the more Nis looked at Angel, the more he saw him as an excellent test subject, contemplating a minor dissection… While Nis was engrossed in his thoughts, Sanders’ tall figure suddenly blocked his view.
Though Sanders didn’t say a word, the chill emanating from his body clearly showed his stance.
Nis gave a sheepish smile: “I was just admiring, purely admiring.”
Sanders didn’t exchange pleasantries with Nis and went straight to the point, inquiring whether Nis had found anything when he broke into the Heart of the Swarm’s research institute.
Nis: “There were some finds, a few manuscripts left by Insercott. But as you know, I’m not versed in the Summoning System and have even less interest in swarms, so if you have any questions about the swarm, I probably can’t answer.”
“Can I take a look at those manuscripts?”
Nis didn’t mind and nodded: “Sure, follow me.”
Having said that, Nis took the lead and guided them to an even more secluded chamber. While walking, he muttered, “Ah, speaking of which, I was in the middle of an experiment, and Saka was my assistant. But as soon as he heard Angel was coming, he ran off without a word. It really pissed me off.”
“But on second thought, it makes sense. Angel could beat him back then, and now his vital energy has grown so much stronger; I bet Saka would turn into minced meat with just one punch.”
With that, Nis curiously looked at Angel: “How exactly did you enhance your flesh? Did you, perhaps, fuse with some powerful bloodline?”
“Indeed, it was a bloodline. However, the specifics of which bloodline it is remains a confidential research topic, for now, I cannot disclose,” Angel replied.
Nis shrugged: “Fine, pretend I didn’t ask.”
Soon, they reached the secret chamber Nis had mentioned. At the entrance of the chamber, there was a statue with a lion’s head. Nis didn’t open the secret chamber but knocked on the lion statue. Several secret phrases were transmitted into the statue, following which the lion’s eyes shone with a blood-red light.
Mechanical noises sounded from within the chamber. In a moment, the lion’s mouth opened wide, and several books glowing with a faint light flew out, landing in Nis’s hands.
Nis waved gently, and the few volumes of books landed on a desk not far away.
“Everything is here, you can look for yourself,” Nis pointed to the books on the desk, “You can check them out for yourself, the core content has already been encrypted. If there’s anything you want to read, just pay the corresponding price to me.”
Angel understood how valuable knowledge was to a Wizard, so he was prepared to pay the price. Despite Nis’s seemingly nonchalant attitude about the books, they were, after all, left by a legendary great Wizard, probably the only copy in the Southern Domain, and their value was immeasurable. Nis was willing to trade these things mainly out of consideration for Sanders.
He nodded to Sanders, then sat down at the desk and began to flip through the first book.
‘A Brief Introduction to Mysterious Magical Creatures’
‘The Third-Order Fire Setting Reaction of the Karon Protozoa’
“Mysterious Magical Creatures?” As Angel turned to the first page title, he immediately thought of Lucas. Lucas was the bearer of a Mysterious Object, a ‘Mysterious Human.’ Could this ‘Mysterious Magical Creature’ be a type of insect with mysterious properties?
Angel was indeed curious, but it wasn’t what he was looking for, so he had to keep flipping through.
The sound of flipping pages slowly became the only noise in the room, and Angel’s attention became more focused.
Meanwhile, Nis gave Sanders a signal with his eyes, and they temporarily left the room, leaving Angel alone to peruse the books.
Leaning by the door, Nis said to Sanders, “I also saw what happened in the Spirit Tree Hall before. There’s more to what Angel said, isn’t there?”
“Don’t you all understand?” Sanders was aware that the vague parts of Angel’s story would certainly raise suspicions. But even with suspicions, it was of no use, as nobody would guess that the death of a Demon God’s True Spirit was connected to Angel.
“Aren’t we old friends? Can’t you give me a hint?” Nis glanced in Angel’s direction, “Is his body’s transformation related to this matter? Could it be that he has received the bloodline of a descendant of a Demon God?”
Immediately after Nis finished speaking, Sanders scoffed, “Not to mention the likelihood of that happening, do you think Angel could withstand a bloodline of that caliber?”
Nis: “That may be true, but I can’t think of any other answer.”
After a moment of contemplation, Sanders said, “His body’s transformation has nothing to do with the fall of the Demon God’s True Spirit. However, you might want to think about his constitution.”
“Constitution?” Nis hesitated for a moment, “You mean… a Nightmare Soul Body? Could it be related to the Nightmare Realm?”
Sanders did not respond further, but Nis seemed to have an epiphany. If it really was related to the Nightmare Realm, that made sense, since its perilous and mysterious nature was well-known; but so were its chances and treasures!
Nis wanted to inquire further, but Sanders was not inclined to say more. With no choice, Nis had to let it rest.
Nis then talked about the Lassudral issue that Angel had mentioned earlier. He did learn some secrets from Sanders, though they were of no real importance.
As the conversation went on, the topic somehow shifted to the relic on the Pamiji Plateau.
“What do you think about that newly discovered relic?” asked Sanders.
After pondering for a moment, Nis said, “Speaking of which, Lord Rhein summoned me recently to go near that relic to sense for some Undead. Although I didn’t sense any, I feel there’s something odd about that relic.”
“Odd? In what way?” Sanders inquired with curiosity, he had been provided with verified information, or in other words, ‘official news.’ Authoritative as it was, it lacked perspective. He wanted to hear if Nis, from his personal point of view, had any new discoveries.
“No one can penetrate the relic, so I can’t determine what’s going on inside. But I just don’t understand why those numerous Colorful Dragonflies coming from the Eternal Night Country are gathering near that relic,” Nis recalled the situation, “People outside are spreading rumors, worried that these Magical Creatures and parasites will encroach deeper into the Pamiji Plateau, eventually causing disaster to the Mirror World. But after taking a closer look, although I can’t exclude the possibility that they might advance into the depths of the plateau, their current behavior doesn’t seem like they have any plans to expand.”
Sanders frowned, “Not planning to expand? You mean…”
Nis: “In my opinion, there may be something special inside the relic, attracting them.”
Something that could attract creatures of the Nightmare Realm? If so, it’s probably the essence of the Nightmare Realm, because those Magical Creatures, having come to the Wizards’ Realm, would gradually weaken if they didn’t replenish the Nightmare Essence soon, but the Eternal Night Country has numerous Interlayer Spaces, so it’s not lacking in Nightmare Essence.
What could it be, then?
Could it be that, like with Poclades, there was a passage leading to the Nightmare Realm inside that relic?
That didn’t seem right either. If there really was such a passage, those creatures from the Nightmare Realm wouldn’t need to migrate from the Eternal Night Country; they could just come directly through the passage.
Sanders thought for a long time but found no answer.
“Lord Rhein has already written to Lapuye. If Lapuye can make a judgment, Lord Rhein may personally enter the relic to investigate after some time, and then we will have the answer.”