Page 796

"That God of War... could he have truly transcended the limitations of this world?"

Spencer rubbed his temples, looking weary. “The problem is, he’s back now. Although there are rumors that he ascended to immortality, leaving only his spirit, you’ve all seen what happened in Lie Kingdom. His methods are even more unfathomable than before.”

"We must figure out the connection! The Philosopher's Stone is a top secret of our society, it must not be..."

Before the old man could finish speaking, the entire castle suddenly trembled violently!

hum-

All the alchemically crafted lamps, runes, and magic circles in the conference hall flickered wildly for a moment, their brightness fluctuating wildly, emitting mournful cries of unbearable strain, before finally going out with a "snap."

An indescribable, terrifying pressure, like an invisible, towering mountain, descended from the sky, pressing down firmly on the depths of everyone's soul.

"Enemy attack!!"

Spencer stood up abruptly, his face ashen.

However, the castle's top-tier defensive arrays, those alchemical barriers that were said to be able to withstand a saturation attack from an aircraft carrier battle group, were now as flimsy as paper, falling completely silent without even a single alarm.

Just as everyone was horrified, a voice, calm to the extreme and devoid of any emotion, pierced through the layers of physical and magical barriers and echoed clearly in everyone's ears.

"Hand over the Philosopher's Stone."

Spencer and the others looked up in horror and saw what was happening through the huge one-way observation window of the conference hall.

A figure hovered silently above the ancient castle.

He had no imposing presence, no dazzling brilliance; he simply stood there, seemingly one with heaven and earth, yet also above them all.

Mo Wen!

He actually came to our door!

Spencer's throat went dry, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back. Forcing himself to remain calm, he shouted into the air, "Lord Mo Wen! Your uninvited arrival is far too unbecoming of the rules of the supernatural world! The Emerald Society has no enmity with you, why..."

"rule?"

Mo Wen chuckled lightly, and in a flash, he appeared inside the conference hall, no more than ten meters away from them.

He seemed to be taking a casual stroll, ignoring all the spaces and barriers.

He glanced around, his gaze finally settling on the blood-red Philosopher's Stone, then sweeping over the terrified faces of Spencer and the others with a playful look, as if he were observing a group of amusing ants.

“I stand here, and I am the rule.”

He casually picked a rose from a decorative vase beside him, held it to his nose and sniffed it gently, his posture elegant, as if he had not come to confront someone but to attend a dinner party.

The immense pressure made everyone present feel breathless; one director even collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way.

Spencer knew that any verbal argument would be futile. He gritted his teeth, attempting a final struggle: "Your Excellency, the Philosopher's Stone is the foundation of my learning, it..."

"I'll only give you one chance."

Mo Wen interrupted him, his voice still calm, but the indifference hidden beneath the calm made Spencer feel as if his blood was about to freeze.

A deathly silence fell over the conference room.

Everyone looked at Spencer, waiting for him to make a decision.

To pay or not to pay?

To hand it over would be a disgrace to the school's centuries-old foundation.

If they didn't hand it over... they had no doubt that the entire castle would be erased from the map in the next second.

Spencer's lips trembled. He was still hesitating, still hoping that Mo Wen would be mindful of the so-called "international influence" and wouldn't dare to really go on a killing spree.

Seeing their expressions, Mo Wen's amusement deepened.

He chuckled softly, a soft laugh that carried a chilling indifference as if the world were collapsing.

"It seems you have no choice."

He put down the rose in his hand, extended a finger, and gently pointed forward.

No sound.

There was no light.

There wasn't even any energy fluctuation.

The moment Mo Wen pointed his finger, the entire world was put on pause.

Sword Twenty-Three!

Time stood still.

The struggling expression on Spencer's face, the old man's wide-eyed terror, the woman's instinctively raised arm, and even the dust floating in the air were all frozen in that instant.

They became lifeless embellishments in this still painting.

The only one who could move was Mo Wen.

He strolled leisurely to the Philosopher's Stone, which was frozen in mid-air, ignoring the powerful protective spells surrounding it.

He reached out and held the Philosopher's Stone in his hand as if it were an ordinary stone.

An ancient, vast energy, even carrying a hint of the primordial world, surged into his fingertips. At the same time, his primordial spirit resonated with the stone in a wondrous way.

A knowing glint flashed in Mo Wen's eyes.

"I see... it's 'coordinates'..."

He muttered something to himself, as if he understood something.

He played with it for a moment, and then, under the horrified "gaze" of Spencer and the others, he gently put the Philosopher's Stone back in its original place, as if he had merely borrowed a book.

After doing all this, Mo Wen snapped his fingers.

"Snapped."

Time resumes its flow.

The space comes alive again.

"what!!"

An indescribable fear and chill, originating from the depths of their souls, exploded in the consciousness of Spencer and the others!

They only felt their thoughts go blank for a moment, and the next second, the extreme terror of being frozen returned in double the intensity.

Everyone, including Spencer, went limp and collapsed to the ground in a disheveled state, gasping for breath, as if they were drowning people who had been given a second chance at life.

They didn't know what had happened.

But they knew they had just walked through the gates of hell—no, they hadn't even been qualified to touch the threshold of the gates of hell—and had been manipulated by the gods.

Then, that calm voice rang out again.

Mo Wen had already turned his back to them, put his hands in his pockets, and was ready to leave.

"The product is good; I'll take it back and study it for a few days."

His voice was very soft, as if he were stating a trivial matter that was taken for granted, leaving no room for doubt, and even carrying a hint of condescension.

"...No objections, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished from the conference hall in a flash, as if he had never been there.

In the hall, only the Jade Society's high-ranking members, slumped on the floor, remained, along with the question that had made their souls tremble.

For a long, long time.

Spencer mustered all his strength to squeeze out two words from his throat.

"No...no objection..."

Then, the entire conference hall fell into an even deeper, deathly silence.

……

Side Story: The Legend of the Martial God 6: The Philosopher's Stone? Useless; I don't even know what's become of my physical body.

The ancient castle deep in the Alps remains in a deathly silence of terror.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away at the Dragon Kingdom Manor, the sun shone brightly and a gentle breeze blew.

On the poolside lounge chairs, the space seemed to distort slightly for a moment.

Mo Wen's figure appeared out of thin air, as if he had never left.

He casually picked up the half-finished glass of watermelon juice on the small table next to him, gently swirled it, and water droplets slid off the glass. The ice cubes inside didn't even melt a fraction of their edges.

"Huh? You're back so soon?"

Fu Rong was about to get up to get a towel when she saw this and was taken aback, looking at Mo Wen with some surprise.

“I thought you were going to stay there a little longer, after all, it’s the Emerald Society, the oldest supernatural organization in Europe.”

"A bunch of terrified old men, nothing to talk about."

Mo Wen took a sip of the chilled watermelon juice and casually placed the Philosopher's Stone, which emitted an eerie red light, on the table next to the fruit plate. "I just went to get something and, incidentally, set some rules for them."

At that moment, a striking, ancient, and profound crimson hue suddenly appeared beside the once modern poolside.

The stone wasn't large, about the size of a baby's fist, but it wasn't a static solid. Inside, there seemed to be some kind of viscous liquid slowly flowing, with each flow accompanied by a faint pulse of red light, like a beating heart.

Simply by placing it there, the wildly growing flowers and plants around it seemed to tilt slightly towards the stone at that instant, as if greedily absorbing some invisible nourishment.

"This...this is the Philosopher's Stone?"

Feng Shayan and Lu Linglong, who were originally playing in the pool, also came over, lying on the edge of the pool, their wet hair sticking to their cheeks, their big eyes full of curiosity.

Lu Linglong reached out her finger to touch it, but was blocked by a faint repulsive force. She exclaimed in surprise:

"What a strange feeling. It's clearly a stone, but I feel like it's alive, and the energy it contains is so pure!"

"Don't touch it randomly, or you might assimilate the innate Qi within your body."

Mo Wen flicked his finger, and an invisible gust of wind gently tapped Lu Linglong's forehead. Then he picked up the stone and examined it carefully in his palm.

At that moment, the clear black and white pupils in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a deep, abyss-like blue.

Unleash the power of your primordial spirit!

In that instant, Mo Wen's perspective changed.