Chapter 669
First Intimate Contact
Chapter 669 First Intimate Contact (Part 1)
"Whether it's three days or ten days, if we don't find a way to leave here, the outcome will be the same." Gao De let out a soft breath, shifting his attention away from the constantly fluctuating [Adaptive] feedback.
He fixed his gaze on Liu Ying, his tone serious and steady, without a trace of despair or resentment.
Firstly, he knew that he couldn't blame Liu Ying for this, even though he was indeed drawn into this world because of her.
Secondly, with the ability to adapt, at least surviving in this dimension shouldn't be a big problem, let alone anything else.
Upon hearing Gaode's statement about "disregarding life and death," a lingering surprise flashed in Liu Ying's blue eyes.
She truly hadn't expected anyone to remain so calm upon learning they only had three days to live.
Immediately replaced by undisguised joy, as if a weight had been lifted from my heart.
Because she was just secretly worried: what should she do if Gaode showed despair, sadness, or even blamed her?
She really has absolutely no idea how to comfort people.
Most of the time, others comfort her, even though that comfort is useless and she doesn't feel she needs comfort.
"Don't worry, we're not without hope." Overjoyed, Liu Ying unconsciously took half a step forward, then subconsciously stopped, maintaining a safe distance of half a foot.
“I have read detailed records about the Desolate Soul Domain.”
Gao De's heart skipped a beat.
Dimensional knowledge is extremely profound.
He only knew some basic concepts; he knew absolutely nothing about delving into a specific plane or even its derivative planes.
Not to mention someone like Liu Ying, who can describe in detail the name, origin, and characteristics of their current plane of existence.
Right now, he and Liu Ying are trapped here, and all information about the Desolate Soul Domain depends on this girl with an extraordinary background.
Therefore, Gaode immediately adopted a listening-only attitude.
Liu Ying didn't keep them in suspense and said seriously, "I flipped through 'Dimensional Records: The Desolate Soul Domain,' which recorded many secrets of necromancers who were banished to the Desolate Soul Domain."
"In ancient times, there was an extremely famous necromancer named Mordekaiser."
"He is not only a necromancer, but also a gifted runemaster who is best at combining soul energy with runes and researching forbidden techniques for soul rune transformation."
Liu Ying's tone was purely objective, without a trace of hatred or fear: "Simply put, it's about extracting the soul of a living being, carving it into runes, and then integrating it into oneself or an object, thereby gaining a long lifespan and great power."
"The book says that he has lived for almost a thousand years longer by using this method."
"This is an extremely evil method. In order to collect enough souls, he slaughtered many innocent people."
"That's why he was subdued, but because necromancers are proficient in necromancy and control the energy of life and death, they have too many methods. Ordinary killings cannot guarantee that the roots will be eradicated. So the mage at the time chose to banish him to the Desolate Soul Realm."
“There is absolutely no magic here, so no extraordinary means can be used. Furthermore, with the continuous erosion of the withered soul energy, no matter how many tricks Mordecai has up his sleeve, his soul will eventually dissipate and he will perish completely.”
At this point, Liu Ying finally revealed the key point: "But no one expected that 130 years later, Mordekai would reappear in the mage plane. At that time, he not only changed his appearance but also established an organization called the Bone Pact Cult."
"The book speculates that Mordecai's ability to escape from the Desolate Soul Domain is most likely related to his identity as a rune master, and the specific method of escape may still be found in the Desolate Soul Domain."
“Those dilapidated stone towers must have been the refuge chosen by the necromancers who were banished to the Desolate Soul Realm back then. If they wanted to avoid the harm of the Soul Wind, only those stone towers could provide shelter from the wind in the entire Desolate Soul Realm.”
Liu Ying's gaze shifted to the stone tower in the distance.
"Modikai must have been inside the stone tower back then, otherwise he wouldn't have survived long enough to figure out an escape method."
The terrain of the Desolate Soul Realm is that simple: it's a flat, endless wasteland of withered bones.
The ground was covered with white powder formed from the weathering of fine bone fragments.
Occasionally, you can see some scattered, huge skeletal remains, like the ribs or spine of ancient behemoths, which look particularly ferocious under the grayish-white halo.
Apart from that, there are only some dilapidated stone towers standing alone.
The stone tower's walls are covered with cracks, and parts of the tower have collapsed, giving it an eerie feel in the gloomy environment.
"There might be some escape clues hidden inside the stone tower. At the very least, it can serve as a refuge to avoid the ever-present ghost winds."
“Besides us, there are other creatures here.” Liu Ying suddenly remembered something, and her tone became serious. “The book mentioned that there are two kinds of native creatures in the Desolate Soul Domain, one of which is the Soul Servants.”
She raised her hand and gestured in the air with her fingertips: "They are the fragmented bodies of ancient, exiled necromancers, formed by the energy of withered souls."
"It has a physical form, a hunched body, and is only about five feet tall. Its skin is dry and black, and its bones are exposed. It has no independent consciousness and can only instinctively attack living things."
"The combat strength of the withered soul servants is not strong, at most equivalent to the worst of the first-tier earth vein creatures, because they have no extraordinary abilities and can only slap or bite with their hands."
"Logically speaking, a first-ring mage could easily deal with them, but this is a magic-free plane."
Her gaze fell on Gao De's empty hands, then she looked down at the bare bone she had picked up in her own hand, and only then did she belatedly realize the seriousness of the problem.
"Neither of us can cast spells, and we don't have any decent weapons. Facing the withered soul servants, it seems we can only... only hide and run?"
Two mages without any magical power were facing a withered soul servant whose combat strength was comparable to a first-tier ley line creature, and they were completely unarmed.
There's really no other way but to avoid it.
“And another kind of creature?” Gao De asked calmly.
Without extraordinary abilities, these withered soul servants, who are merely physically powerful, are relatively not that terrifying.
It can certainly be regarded as a rather ferocious beast.
"The other type is the Soul Mite, which is a small monster formed from the bone powder in the plane. It is only the size of a finger and looks like a multi-legged mite. Its body is grayish-white, the same color as the bone powder, and it is impossible to spot unless you look closely."
"They are social creatures, but only two or three appear at a time. They have no soul and find food by sensing the body temperature of living things."
"The attack method is to lie on the human skin and bite, slowly absorbing body heat."
"However, their combat power is much weaker than that of the withered soul servants. They can be crushed with a hand. The main reason is that they are extremely stealthy. They may be on you for a long time without you noticing until you lose your body temperature, but by then it is often too late."
"That's alright." Gao De breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The most fatal flaw of this desolate and barren soul realm is actually the inherent characteristics of the plane itself.
The lack of magic in the magic-free environment, coupled with the continuous erosion of withered soul energy, creates a stress response.
In comparison, the threat posed by native creatures within the plane is not significant.
For him, this was already a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune.
After all, his [Adaptive] specialty is far better suited for dealing with extreme environments than for dealing with hordes of monsters.
“Let’s go take a look.” He immediately looked at the stone towers scattered on the plain in the distance and said to Chuan Ying.
Liu Ying nodded without objection, but earnestly instructed, "Okay, we need to walk quietly. The book says that the withered soul servants have very sensitive hearing, so don't disturb them."
The two started walking towards the nearest stone tower.
Although it was described as a plain, the thick layer of bone meal made movement exceptionally difficult. With each step, the bone meal sank up to the ankles, seeping up the trouser legs and sticking coolly to the skin.
Extra strength is needed to pull the leg out of the soft bone meal.
Strictly speaking, this is already considered difficult terrain.
If you still have magic power, you can easily conquer this terrain with a simple [Great Stride] spell.
But now, the two can only move forward by sheer physical strength.
Gao De raised his guard to the highest level, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding wasteland and the stone tower in the distance, his ears carefully distinguishing any unusual sounds other than footsteps.
After all, in this situation, if you really encounter a withered soul servant, it won't be easy to escape.
Soft bone meal ground will greatly limit movement speed, and once you get entangled, you will only become more and more passive.
creak—crack!
A crisp, piercing cracking sound suddenly rang out, breaking the deathly silence of the wasteland.
Liu Ying felt as if she had stepped on something hard. The object cracked under the weight, and her ankle twisted suddenly. She lost her balance and staggered to one side.
Gao De reacted almost instinctively, turning to the side and reaching out his arm to grab Liu Ying's wrist and pull her steady.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch Liu Ying's wrist, the other party seemed to reflexively pull her body back and at the same time rapidly rotate her wrist backward, forcefully avoiding Gao De's touch.
She staggered back two steps, her toes leaving two shallow dents in the bone-powder ground, before finally regaining her balance. Her chest heaving slightly, she explained, "I'm sorry."
Liu Ying took a breath and bent down to pick up a broken bone from the layer of bone powder at her feet.
It was a section of yellowish shinbone, with rough, not-yet-completely-weathered texture and sharp edges, clearly cracked by her stepping on it earlier.
"I stepped on a piece of bone that wasn't completely weathered, but I didn't notice."
"Follow me." Gao De slowly withdrew his hand. Although he thought it was a bit strange that the other party was still so "conscious of boundaries" in this situation, he didn't think much of it.
He noticed that the other person's breathing had become a little heavier, so he said this.
In the mage realm, I might be far from being a match for this young lady from the Wang Mian family.
However, in this magic-free plane, stamina has become the most direct indicator of combat strength.
Clearly, as a man, and one whose physique had evolved several times, his physical strength far surpassed that of his opponent.
Liu Ying had no airs of a young lady and nodded vigorously upon hearing this.
She followed closely in Gao De's footprints, trying to step on the indentations he had stepped in.
This does indeed save some effort.
The two quickened their pace and headed towards the stone tower.
Under the gloomy sky, the desolate wasteland was eerily silent, with only the soft crunching of their footsteps on the bone dust and the sound of their breathing echoing in the air.
The atmosphere was somewhat somber.
Not wanting the atmosphere to become too oppressive, and also wanting to clarify his doubts, Gao De thought for a moment and took the initiative to start a conversation: "By the way, I also want to thank you for reminding me in the Obsidian Merchant Guild."
He turned his head and looked at Liu Ying's profile as she focused on her journey. "I really didn't expect you to appear in a place like that, and you even made a point of reminding me to avoid losing money."
Saying it's "thank you" is actually a euphemistic way of asking a question.
How could Liu Ying, given her identity, appear in the Obsidian Merchant Guild, and why would she specifically remind him, a complete stranger?
"Just call me Liu Ying." Liu Ying didn't seem to like being called Miss Wang Mian and said quite frankly, "I don't usually go to these kinds of places."
"I went out this time specifically to see you."
"Look at me?" Gao De was taken aback, and his steps unconsciously slowed down a little.
"Yes, Marcus told me that you will be my teammate in the upcoming World's Best Fighting Tournament."
“Your team members.” Gao De paused, then immediately realized what he meant.
"You're the leader of the Golden Flower Dynasty team in the Unparalleled Magic Fighting Tournament?!"
He had heard that Liu Ying possessed unparalleled magical talent, and given her background, her strength must be extremely terrifying.
But he never considered the other party as the captain of the Golden Flower Dynasty team.
The other party's status is too high. It's like a contest between two dynasties, with a princess of one country personally donning armor and taking to the battlefield. It's really hard to imagine.
“Yes, it’s me.” Liu Ying said matter-of-factly, “My father originally didn’t plan to let me go, but His Majesty wanted to ensure victory in this Unparalleled Magic Tournament, and since my brother is the organizer, I also wanted to help him, so in the end he agreed to let me go.”
Gao De couldn't help but click his tongue.
The meaning of "流荧" is very straightforward:
If she takes the lead, the Plantagenet dynasty will win.
The problem is, how can she say it so matter-of-factly, without the slightest fluctuation in her tone?
Even people who are absolutely confident in themselves will say such things with a hint of high spirits or a sense of certainty.
But Liu Ying's words felt like she was saying, "If you're thirsty, you should drink water," or "If you're hungry, you should eat food"—factuals that are common knowledge and need no further explanation.
Of course, neither from a moral nor a logical standpoint, he had no reason to question the other party under these circumstances.
It was at this moment that the first dilapidated stone tower was already within reach.
Upon closer inspection, you'll find that the stone tower is much more magnificent and dilapidated than it appears from a distance.
The tower is constructed from massive, dark brown stones, the surfaces of which are covered with cracks of varying depths.
The top of the stone tower had long since collapsed, revealing a dark, empty hole.
The tower's entrance is a half-closed stone door, its thick panels dented and cracked in the center, as if struck by an external force.
Now it can only be supported by one side of the hinge, crookedly blocking the doorway, leaving a gap that only allows one person to pass through.
More partially weathered bones were scattered around the stone tower.
Some are thick leg bones, some are skulls with sharp teeth, and some are twisted vertebrae wrapped around the base of the tower like natural chains.
The bone meal on the ground was piled up even thicker here, making a crunching sound when stepped on, mixed with the faint smell of decay emanating from the cracks in the stone gate, which inexplicably sent a chill down one's spine.
"I'll go in and check the situation first," Gao De said, frowning slightly as he took the lead.
(End of this chapter)