Chapter 2313 The Salt Lake’s Visitors <TOC> Chapter 2315 Ceremonial
Next page password is bold portion: Foc9PU?-StO4
Translator: SumTLMan
Upon emerging from the planar passage, Sanders nodded slightly towards Angel, naturally donning his pure white silk gloves and retrieving his gold-threaded black birchwood cane.
With a gentle turn and a tap, the cane touched the Deep Abyss behind him. Following a flicker of dim light, the planar passage, opened by Angel, was sealed shut.
As the passage closed, Sanders held in his hand a half-consumed Deep Abyss Nail, a remnant of the closure.
“Deep Abyss… Using the nail of a Void Abyss Beast as the primary material to open a planar passage is a luxury only you can afford,” Sanders remarked, glancing at the not yet fully depleted black nail before casually tossing it towards Angel.
“Take it, it should still be good for one more use.”
Catching the Deep Abyss Nail, Angel’s expression revealed a slight embarrassment. In Sky Mechanical City, the market price for such a nail starts at three thousand magic crystals, and he had spent nearly two thousand five hundred magic crystals to purchase it from the Breezy Magic Material Shop.
Such a space attribute magic material naturally serves as a consumable for planar passages, though there are many alternatives to the Deep Abyss Nail. Among the most common is a type of Illusory Gemstone, a byproduct of the Illusory Spirit Diamond, which is relatively more abundant and cheaper, priced around two thousand magic crystals.
At first glance, the difference between three thousand and two thousand magic crystals seems minor, but the comparison should not be made on a single material alone.
The consumables required for a planar passage are numerous, not just one, and the total cost usually exceeds ten thousand. Different primary materials necessitate different auxiliary materials. For example, the auxiliary materials corresponding to the Illusionary Gemstone are relatively standard in price, totaling around ten to twenty thousand magic crystals, which is affordable for a regular wizard. However, using a Deep Abyss Nail as the primary material means higher costs for auxiliary materials, potentially driving the total expense for a single use of a planar passage to over thirty thousand magic crystals.
This is why Sanders remarked on Angel’s extravagance.
Angel’s gaze shifted: “I was just worried about a failure to open, which is why I used the Deep Abyss Nail.”
Under normal circumstances, Angel would opt for more cost-effective materials, but this was his first attempt at opening a planar passage solely with an anchor provided by Sanders, and he feared any mishaps. Thus, he chose the relatively more expensive Deep Abyss Nail, known for its superior spatial stability over other materials.
Sanders seemed to understand Angel’s reasoning, hence his light-hearted tease. Being an alchemist, Angel wasn’t short on magic crystals, so if he preferred the expensive option, so be it——of course, Sanders was certainly not envious.
“How did Mentor know I used a Deep Abyss Nail?” Angel inquired, curious.
“The shape of the rift,” Sanders replied, conjuring an illusion in front of him without any gesture. The illusion depicted the planar passage.
Pointing to the edge of the passage, Sanders explained, “The planar passage created by a Deep Abyss Nail is called a Deep Abyss Rift, with a distinctive claw mark pattern along the spatial rift, similar to the tear marks made by a Void Abyss Beast breaking through space.”
After explaining, Sanders also presented several examples of planar passages created with different primary materials.
Among them, the Illusory Gemstone opened up the Illusory Tunnel, the Phantom Light Crystal carved out the Light and Shadow Passage, and the Rainbow Hearthstone unveiled the Rainbow Light Gate… Sanders taught Angel the methods to discern the passages between different planes.
After finishing his explanation, as Angel pondered, Sanders glanced towards the distant Gondola.
He could sense a clear clutter of elemental fluctuations emanating from the Gondola.
Seeing Sanders’ gaze, Angel explained, “The elemental creatures near the Gondola are my newly acquired subordinates, along with some friends I know. Would Mentor like to go see them?”
Sanders shook his head, “Wait a bit, let’s welcome Lord Rhine first before discussing further.”
Although the materials used for the planar passage would eventually be reimbursed by the Savage Grottoes——a promise given by Lord Rhine; Angel’s extravagant spending was still likely to draw criticism. To avoid such situations, the task of opening the planar passage to welcome Rhine was ultimately assigned to Sanders.
Angel was responsible for contacting Rhine in the Wilderness of Dreams to confirm the anchor.
Angel casually cast an illusory realm over the salt lake, creating a cloud sofa that resembled a floating cloud, sat on it, and then closed his eyes to enter the Wilderness of Dreams.
He was still in the first-floor lobby of the Rosewater Pavilion.
However, compared to the previous hustle and bustle, the place was now empty, with only two servers recruited from Initial Heart City.
Since Rhine had not logged on yet, Angel decided to wait there.
He took a seat by the window, gesturing to the servers not to come over, and began to wait quietly.
Five minutes… Ten minutes…
Half an hour passed, and Angel even sent a complete set of cultivation insights as an offline message to his brother Leon, but still, there was no news of Rhine logging on.
Angel thought for a moment, opened the Mother Tree Communicator, found Tree Spirit, and inquired about Lord Rhine’s whereabouts.
However, Tree Spirit did not reply. Using the godly perspective, Angel found that Tree Spirit was currently in a corner of the New City, conversing with Nemeti. Tree Spirit was speaking passionately, while Nemeti listened with eyes sparkling with golden light.
Both were in a state of fascination; Tree Spirit was engrossed in telling, and Nemeti was engrossed in listening.
Angel listened in for a bit and understood that Tree Spirit was discussing some cultivation methods of nature spirits. Although Nemeti was not a spirit, the descriptions related to nature deeply resonated with her, so she too was engrossed, occasionally showing flashes of enlightenment, as if she had gained some insights.
Watching this scene, Angel was reminded of his conversation with Mr. Feng in the painting.
Angel: “How can I help Nemeti break through?”
Feng: “Don’t worry too much, just let it be natural. The Book of Kael won’t predict wrongly.”
The prophecy, which was supposed to be about him, might not be specifically about him but rather a general indication. The Savage Grottoes, which are also related to Angel, could be included in the scope of the prophecy.
And Tree Spirit is clearly the one in the Savage Grottoes with the deepest understanding of nature energy.
Perhaps Nemeti could take that step forward with the knowledge and insights gained from Tree Spirit?
Regardless of the possibility, Angel felt it was not appropriate to disturb Tree Spirit’s teaching at the moment and decided to turn to someone else.
Iron Armor Granny was also offline, probably having left with Lord Rhine. Angel had no choice but to turn his attention to Liana.
Liana quickly replied through the Tree Group: “You should ask Duncan; Duncan is in the ruins in real life.”
“Whispering Shadow” Duncan, a wizard from the mysterious summoning branch, primarily delved into the mysterious arts of skeletal summoning.
Angel, employing the godly perspective, pinpointed Duncan’s location not within the confines of the New City but in an underground laboratory situated on its outskirts.
This laboratory, established by Dulmatin specifically for the study of Rain Tanuki and the traveling frog, became a sanctuary of scientific inquiry.
It took a moment for Angel to discern that Dulmatin had invited Duncan to assist him in his research. Duncan, for reasons unknown, had accepted this invitation.
At this time, Dulmatin was absent from the laboratory, leaving Duncan to document various experimental data.
Seeing Duncan was not embroiled in any pressing matters, Angel swiftly made contact through the Tree Group, briefing him on the situation.
Duncan responded, “Understood, I’ll check back into reality.”
Such a minor request was naturally not something Duncan could refuse Angel, and after agreeing, he logged off.
After a while, Duncan reconnected, informing Angel, “Lord Rhine has departed, and currently, the ruins are guarded by Iron Armor Granny.”
Duncan inquired about Rhine’s whereabouts from Iron Armor Granny, who was uncertain of the details, only mentioning that Rhine had left through a planar passage and had mentioned Visiting a Friend before departing.
“Visiting a friend?” Angel puzzled, wasn’t it agreed that Rhine would soon arrive at the Tidal Realm? Why then the sudden detour to visit a friend?
Moreover, the departure through a planar passage indicated that Rhine’s friend was not in the Paramjit Plateau.
Such a hasty departure raised the question: had something occurred?
After pondering for a while without any clear conclusion, Angel decided to log off.
Upon sharing Rhine’s situation with Sanders, even he was at a loss, speculating, “Perhaps Lord Rhine’s visit to his friend is also related to matters of the Tidal Realm.”
Given Sanders’ understanding of Rhine, no matter how significant other matters might be, they couldn’t compare to the urgency of the Tidal Realm’s affairs at the moment.
Hence, this speculation arose. But what friend could possibly be related to the Tidal Realm?
As they pondered, Angel suddenly felt a tremor within the Power Tree in his mental space, and a message came through from the power of the Gate of Dreams.
Angel exclaimed, “Lord Rhine has entered the Wilderness of Dreams!”
Without hesitation, Angel applied the Dream Entry spell on himself and ventured into the Wilderness of Dreams.
Upon entering the Wilderness of Dreams, before even speaking to Rhine, Angel received a message from Rhine, which was the location of a spatial anchor.
Rhine sent this coordinate and then logged off, clearly indicating that this location was the other end soon to be connected by the planar passage.
Angel relayed this anchor to Sanders.
Upon receiving the spatial anchor, Sanders closed his eyes and simulated in his mind for a moment before saying, “This anchor is located in the hinterlands of the Saint Lawrence Kingdom… If it’s there, Lord Rhine must have gone to the Magic Flute Monastery.”
The Magic Flute Monastery? Angel’s impression of this wizard organization was not profound, having only had contact with a member from the Research Institute, “Golden Touch” Matthew.
Even with Matthew, Angel had only seen him once during the Witness Ceremony upon entering the Research Institute, an elder dressed in a servant of god’s robe, exuding a holy and solemn aura.
Besides, he only knew of a wizard named Percival Graves, because this wizard had explicitly stated that he had once entered the Nightmare Plane.
“Does Lord Rhine have friends in the Magic Flute Monastery?” Angel inquired.
Sanders shrugged, indicating he was unaware of Rhine’s circle of friends. However, having managed the Savage Grottoes for many years, Rhine’s network was so extensive it could surpass this world and extend across the pan-dimensional, including acquaintances in rival organizations.
Thus, guessing who Rhine’s friend could be was challenging.
“If you’re really curious, you can ask Lord Rhine directly later,” Sanders concluded, standing up from the cloud sofa, “I’m about to begin.”
Sanders moved aside, taking out the planar passage casting materials prepared by Angel.
The reason for using Angel’s prepared materials was because Angel could claim expenses. Although Sanders didn’t care about the magic crystals, he believed in saving where possible.
Sanders’ method of opening the planar passage was evidently more effortless and relaxed compared to Angel’s.
Although he was more adept at opening the Light and Shadow Passage through the Phantom Light Crystal, using Illusory Gemstones to create Illusion Tunnels was no trouble for him either.
Moreover, his speed was so fast that it left Angel utterly astonished.
In almost an instant, the planar passage was successfully opened, and the illusory aura emanated from a massive vortex.
This vortex is the Illusion Tunnel. Its size far surpasses the Deep Abyss Rift arranged by Angel.
Sanders, using cheaper primary materials, created a planar passage superior to the Deep Abyss Rift opened by Angel, highlighting the gap between Angel and Sanders.
Of course, the fundamental reason for this gap lies in the fact that Sanders faced countless more deadly dangers than Angel, making the forced opening of planar passages an instinct in critical moments.
From a certain perspective, Angel is also fortunate.
Not long after the vortex appeared, Rhine followed the exit from the void and walked out from the other side.
After Rhine emerged, Angel curiously looked behind him.
Since Rhine went to meet a friend, could he have brought his friend along?
However, that was not the case.
Like Sanders before him, the first thing Rhine did upon leaving the planar passage was to help Sanders close it.
With the planar passage closed, naturally, no one followed through.
“What are you looking behind me for?” Rhine looked at Angel with confusion. The first thing he did upon arriving was to sense the aura of this world, and then his second action was to pay attention to Angel. He found Angel constantly peering behind him, which filled him with bewilderment.
“I thought, Lord Rhine, you brought a friend with you,” Angel responded softly.
“A friend?”
After a brief exchange, Rhine finally realized what Angel meant. He looked somewhat amused and embarrassed: “No, I haven’t even disclosed the situation inside the Savage Grottoes of the Tidal Realm, how could I possibly talk about it with the outside world, even with friends, that’s not possible.”
“Eh?” Angel: “So, Lord Rhine, your visit to see a friend wasn’t about the Tidal Realm?”
“It was about the Tidal Realm, but my visit to see a friend wasn’t to tell them about the existence of the Tidal Realm, it’s different from what you think,” Rhine admitted quite straightforwardly.
“What’s different?”
“That… you’ll know in a moment.” Rhine teased, looking around: “Is this a salt lake? It’s quite beautiful.”
Angel briefly introduced the area, emphasizing that it was an unnamed land, different from the elemental territories.
“Unnamed land?” A hint of sentiment flashed in Rhine’s eyes: “Even if it’s an unnamed land, the elemental energy here can already be compared to the Mirror World.”
Of course, Rhine’s reference to elemental energy does not include nature energy. Because the Mirror World has Tree Spirit, the nature energy there is incredibly dense.
“Considering that even the elemental energy here has reached such a level, I am very curious to see what the real elemental territories would look like.”
Chapter 2313 The Salt Lake’s Visitors <TOC> Chapter 2315 Ceremonial