73: Trout Diving

Inside Charles Castle,

Li Ke was once again in seclusion, meditating.

He tried again to sense the bizarre space of Soul Sand.

His Divine Soul power transformed into invisible tentacles, probing into the Rift of the Void Realm.

However,

that colorful desert,

and that strange block town,

were nowhere to be found, Li Ke a mirage.

Several attempts yielded no results.

Li Ke's brows furrowed slightly.

He slowly opened his eyes, having no choice but to temporarily put the matter aside.

Stepping out of the castle,

Li Ke inventoried the various resources recently produced within his territory.

These were mainly some crude Ore from newly occupied Ore veins, as well as some specialties from the former noble territories.

He categorized these items and placed them one by one into the Storage Pouch at his waist.

These items could be used to exchange for some Materials he urgently needed in the Mist.

Several days later,

Li Ke set off again for Xilin Town.

The Mist Tavern's facade remained deserted.

However, within the internal gray Mist space, figures flickered.

It seemed that Li Ke's laissez-faire approach had made this area an excellent place for free trade.

Li Ke observed within the Mist for a moment but did not find Morgana.

This was already several times he had come recently without seeing her.

Li Ke felt a slight surprise in his heart.

However, now that he had obtained the authority to directly trade with the Mist,

Morgana's importance had greatly diminished, so he did not deliberately try to contact her.

Li Ke stopped thinking and, with a slight movement of his mind,

activated the emblem on his finger, which represented his identity as a Mist Walker.

A faint ripple spread from the emblem.

A moment later, the Mist in front of him wriggled.

A figure dressed in a grayish-white hooded robe emerged from it.

"Good day, Your Excellency Mist Walker."

It was still that ethereal and neutral voice, echoing from all directions.

It seemed that as long as one held the Mist Walker emblem, even in the eyes of the Mist's envoy, one remained completely anonymous.

Li Ke spoke directly:

"I need a batch of Yin-attributed Materials, and also some special Soul Stones."

The Mist under the gray-robed envoy's hood surged, and after a moment of contemplation, he replied:

"For Yin-attributed Materials, the Mist still has a certain inventory and can meet Your Excellency's needs."

"But special Soul Stones, these things are extremely rare in themselves, and the Mist's stock is not much."

The gray-robed envoy's voice paused, as if remembering something.

"However, at the beginning of next month, Oak Tree City, the capital of Oak Tree Territory, will host an auction presided over by the Mist."

"At that time, not only will various noble forces from the surrounding areas participate, but even some secret organizations will come upon hearing the news."

"Many rare treasures that are usually hard to see will appear at the auction."

"Among them, there might be the top-grade Yin-attributed Materials and high-quality Soul Stones that Your Excellency needs."

There was a barely perceptible hint of temptation in the gray-robed envoy's tone.

"If Your Excellency is interested, the Mist organization can reserve a VIP invitation spot for you."

"Furthermore, we can provide a partial list of rare items for the auction in advance for Your Excellency's reference."

Upon hearing this, Li Ke's eyes flickered slightly.

The auction in Oak Tree City was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

He currently needed a large amount of resources to enhance the strength of his Silver Armor Corpse and paper figures, as well as to refine more Magical Artifacts.

These were all major resource consumers.

"In that case, thank you very much."

Li Ke agreed without hesitation,

and then requested an invitation spot and a preview list for the auction.

The Mist envoy quickly handed Li Ke a black invitation card embossed with intricate patterns, and a parchment scroll sealed with special wax.

The transaction completed,

the gray-robed envoy's figure re-merged into the shadows and disappeared.

......

At the same time.

Inside Charles Manor, within the castle.

A newly recruited servant named Todd had joined the manor.

He had only been at Charles Castle for about half a month.

He was usually taciturn, appeared honest and simple, and was quite diligent.

At this moment, he was bowing his head,

holding a half-worn rag in his hand,

carefully wiping the wooden handrail of the corridor while subtly moving towards the second floor.

Unnoticed by anyone,

beneath his lowered eyelids,

a peculiar, fish-shaped phantom shimmered faintly.

A maid responsible for cleaning the first floor passed by, carrying a basin of water.

She inadvertently glanced at Todd, seeing him slowly inching towards the staircase leading to the second floor, and casually reminded him:

"Todd, this isn't your assigned area, is it? Did you go the wrong way?"

"Even though Butler Barton isn't here these past few days, you shouldn't be so sloppy."

"If you get caught, you'll definitely be punished."

Todd's body, which was wiping the handrail, stiffened imperceptibly.

The fish-shaped phantom in his eyes suddenly became clear for an instant,

and an invisible ripple, Li Ke those on water, spread from him.

The maid, who was still chattering, her eyes instantly became somewhat dazed.

Her unfinished words also came to an abrupt halt.

Then, she casually carried her basin and continued with her unfinished work,

as if she had completely forgotten what she had just said and had not even seen Todd at all.

A faint, cold smile played at the corner of Todd's lips.

"This is the power of Enchantment that Lord Cardon bestowed upon me."

"Hmph, these foolish Mortals, their minds can be easily influenced."

He secretly gloated in his heart, but his movements did not stop in the slightest.

While continuing to feign diligent cleaning,

he subtly approached the direction of the mysterious Lord's study on the second floor of the castle.

"Baron Charles just went out."

"Butler Barton hasn't shown up for several days either; I heard he's ill and recuperating."

"What a heaven-sent opportunity! As long as I can sneak into the study and find something useful, I'm bound to achieve a great merit!"

Todd's heart was burning with excitement.

He was slightly hunched over, trying not to make any sound,

and quietly sneaked up to the second floor along the winding staircase.

Deep within the castle,

the butler's room was pitch black, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of their face.

Barton sat cross-legged in the center of the darkness,

an old oil lamp resting on his lap, emitting a dim yellow light.

His aura, and the dozen or so strangely styled oil paintings hanging on the wall,

were completely connected through a profound and secret method,

forming a complete and unique strange cycle.

Just as the Trout Whisper power within Todd's body produced that slight fluctuation, influencing the maid's mind,

in the darkness,

Barton's tightly closed eyes suddenly trembled!

"Bang!"

A dull thud.

On the wall, an oil painting depicting the castle's spiral staircase fell on its own without warning, crashing heavily onto the wooden floor.

Barton abruptly opened his eyes!

His originally cloudy eyes were now filled with pure darkness.

Barton's gaze fell on the fallen oil painting on the floor.

The painting's image was clear: it was the castle staircase leading to the second floor.

In the painting, a blurry figure dressed as a servant was acting furtively, seemingly trying to climb up the spiral staircase.

And around that servant's figure, a clearly visible, illusory fish-shape, emitting a cold and ominous aura, was wrapped!

"Malice that doesn't know its place, daring to sneak into Charles Castle..."

Barton's voice was somewhat gloomy,

sounding in the dead silence of the darkness, carrying a chilling coldness that made one's heart palpitate.

Before his words finished,

within the oil painting that had fallen to the ground,

the previously still spiral staircase began to slowly rotate on its own.

The number of stairs increased continuously with the rotation, becoming deeper and deeper,

gradually transforming into an endless spiral abyss,

layer upon layer, infinite...

At the same time,

on the other several oil paintings hanging on the wall,

the strange scenes depicted also seemed to come alive at the same moment!

In the "Woman in the Bottle" oil painting, from the mouth of the antique vase, a disheveled, pale woman's head was silently and slowly emerging.

In the background of the "Spirit on the Back" oil painting, a blurry, pitch-black human figure was wriggling from the shadows in the corner of the wall.

In the "Crevice Person" oil painting, from the depths of a narrow door crack, an eye full of malice was slowly opening...