309: Ativia (Part 3)

Chen Yu suppressed her impatience and sent a voice transmission to Shang Wan Ning: "Your Majesty, can 'people' really live in this ghostly place?"

"Shut up, apprentice."

Shang Wan Ning replied coldly without pausing her footsteps.

Her goal was clear—the tallest spire. Intelligence suggested that Gray Mist Territory's core archives and some spatial node information might be hidden in a secret room beneath the tower.

A figure draped in a tattered cloak and covered in oozing sores suddenly rushed out from a side alley, lunging straight at Chen Yu.

Yellow-green liquid from the pustules splashed everywhere.

"Careful," You Yu whispered instinctively.

His hand pressed against the short blade at his waist, which was disguised as a staff.

Tudor's scepter of purification also moved slightly.

Shang Wan Ning was faster. Her withered right hand reached out and gripped the neck of the lunging figure.

The thing made a rasping croak, and as the pus dripped onto her black robe, it was instantly repelled by a layer of eerie light.

"Scram," a raspy syllable spat out from behind the mask.

With a flick of her wrist, Shang Wan Ning sent the oozing figure flying like a tattered sack. It slammed hard against the hive-like building opposite them, causing a burst of yellow-green pus.

A few nearby pedestrians glanced over indifferently and continued on their way, clearly accustomed to such sights.

"Worry about yourselves."

Shang Wan Ning glanced at You Yu and Tudor before continuing forward. Chen Yu patted her chest, still feeling lingering fear.

"Tha... thank you, Teacher."

The four of them passed through several more filthy and narrow streets, and the towering spire was now right before their eyes.

The base of the tower was heavily guarded, with two squads of burly humanoid creatures clad in heavy bone armor and wielding giant axes guarding the entrance.

Their skin was grayish-blue, their muscles knotted, and their faces featured only a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth, lacking even eyes.

Shang Wan Ning stopped. Her gaze from within the hood was sinister as she transmitted: "Remember, don't let anything slip."

The Eyeless Guards at the tower gate sensed a soul pressure. They raised their axes slightly, their giant mouths opening and closing as they let out a dull low growl.

"Who?"

Shang Wan Ning stopped in front of the tower, her withered palm supporting a tuft of eerie blue soul fire. She recited a fanatical prayer:

"O Unspeakable One, our flesh and blood returning to the nest!

The sweet scent of silver lace skirts brushing against the Rot-swamp,

The Neural Flowers blooming on the Bone Wasteland are the crown offered to you.

No eyes, no ears, no tongue, only the womb that feels your quickening!

Please strip away my weak human form and grant me the joy of fins and gills. Let me suck the dark milk amidst the tentacles of the Howling Coast.

Praise the darkness, praise the mother of flesh and blood!"

As the prayer ended, the soul fire suddenly shot up half a foot, and the twisted faces within the flames let out wails.

"I come from the Rusting Mountains. Shadow Erosion, a Great Mage. My heart yearns for the mother of flesh and blood, and I have come to join you."

"Please announce my arrival."

The Eyeless Guard's giant mouth twitched, and the arm holding the giant axe slowly lowered.

The prayer was perfectly authentic, the soul fire was scorchingly intense, and the identity of a Great Mage was hard to fake.

One of the guards turned and struck a dark red tumor next to the tower gate with his bone axe.

The tumor wriggled a few times before splitting open with a 'poof,' revealing two cloudy eyeballs.

The guard roared several times at the eyeballs.

A moment later, the heavy tower gate slid inward with a 'creak,' and a stronger smell of sulfur mixed with decaying flesh wafted out.

In the shadows within the gate stood a figure draped in a black robe. The hem of the robe dragged on the ground, stained with a thick dark green liquid.

The shadow cast by the hood was so deep it wouldn't dissipate, revealing only half a skeletal jaw with several strands of dark red flesh wriggling on it.

"Shadow Erosion?"

The black-robed person spoke, his voice sounding like sandpaper rubbing against dry bone, dry and piercing.

The skeletal jaw opened and closed as he spoke, the dark red flesh wriggling along with it. "That name hasn't been heard of in the Gray Mist Territory."

Shang Wan Ning's hood lifted slightly, the soul fire in her palm flickering left and right.

"I have long practiced in the depths of the mountains and rarely step into the mortal world. Only upon seeing the holy radiance of Wormrock City today do I realize how vast the world is, and that the power of the mother of flesh and blood is truly peerless."

Within the raspy voice, a perfect blend of fanaticism and humility was mixed.

Mordecai's skeletal knuckles, hidden beneath his robe, moved. A ripple of mental energy swept toward the four of them... The dark gold patterns on Shang Wan Ning's black robe glowed faintly, effortlessly neutralizing the probe.

Behind her, Chen Yu and the other two kept their minds guarded, not even moving an eyelid.

"An ascetic..."

Mordecai's skeletal jaw pulled back into a strange curve, which was likely meant to be a smile.

"To be able to recite the complete 'Homing Praise,' you do have some sincerity."

"Come in, Master Shadow Erosion. The embrace of the mother of flesh and blood is open to all the devout."

He stepped aside to open the passage. The light inside the tower was dim, and the walls were embedded with moss.

Shang Wan Ning stepped inside, her withered hand withdrawing the soul fire.

Chen Yu and the other two followed closely behind. You Yu's hand never left the 'staff' at his waist.

The space inside the tower was far larger than it appeared from the outside. The ground floor was a vast, empty hall with a floor paved with black bone plates.

In the center was a blood pool, where thick dark red liquid bubbled and popped.

At the edge of the blood pool, several figures draped in tattered robes knelt on the ground, muttering prayers toward the pool.

Their bodies twitched from time to time, like puppets pulled by spider threads.

Mordecai led them around the blood pool toward a spiral bone staircase on the inner side.

"Master Shadow Erosion has come from afar. I assume you aren't very familiar with the power system of the Gray Mist Territory? The blessings of the mother of flesh and blood are far beyond what mortals can imagine."

[The probing has begun.]

Shang Wan Ning responded raspily: "The mountains are isolated, and I only understand some crude ways of the soul fire. I was hoping to seek guidance from you, and I hope Master Mordecai will not hesitate to advise me."

"Certainly."

Mordecai stepped onto the bone staircase, his skeletal feet making a 'clack' sound on the steps.

"The power of the Mother Goddess originates from flesh and chaos. By discarding the weak human form and embracing mutation, one can touch the true essence of power. Look at those believers—"

He pointed a skeletal finger at the figures by the blood pool. "By sacrificing a portion of their flesh, they can exchange it for the 'Flesh Vitality' bestowed by the Mother Goddess. Wound healing speed doubles, and magic power can increase by thirty percent out of thin air."

Shang Wan Ning's gaze from beneath her hood swept over the blood pool. "Sacrificing... to exchange for vitality? How ingenious."

"This is just the surface."

"The truly devout, such as the 'Bone Eater' Legion that guards Wormrock City, have their entire skeletons and flesh tempered and restructured by the power of the Mother Goddess."

"Not only are they incredibly strong, but they are also painless and fearless. Some even..." He paused, his face showing fanaticism.

"...can communicate with chaos, trigger the 'Void Whispers,' distort reality, and tear through space."

Space!

Shang Wan Ning's heart skipped a beat; this was exactly one of the goals of this trip.

She said nonchalantly, "Void Whispers? Such great power is likely close to the realm of the gods."

"Hmph, gods?"

Mordecai sneered, his skeletal jaw making a clicking sound again. "Those false gods of the Nature Pantheon are nothing but parasites who steal the laws."