Chapter 951 Black Secret Seal Canon <TOC> Chapter 953 Silai
Translator: SumTLMan
Upon the sky’s chasm, Paramjit Plateau stood tall and imposing.
When Angel and Madeleine arrived, the Frost Moon’s escort team had already landed, and they began the exchange and resupply of goods.
“The trade won’t take long, let’s go to their Wings of Cold Frost,” Madeleine suggested to Angel before striding towards the Frost Moon’s colossal vehicle that stood in the distance.
The Wings of Cold Frost, a major contraption under the Frost Moon Alliance. It bore a peculiar appearance; it was a massive iceberg sprouting wings that shimmered with the chill of frost. Even from a distance, an intense wave of frigidity was palpable.
Following Madeleine’s lead, Angel ascended the Wings of Cold Frost. Upon stepping onto this icy leviathan, he found it divided into distinct sectors. The lower regions were predominantly inhabited by pale-faced laborers clad in thick fur clothing. Midway up the iceberg, the terrain flattened, and that area was populated by apprentice wizards, all of varied backgrounds and attire.
As Madeleine explained, these individuals were primarily apprentices from various wizard organizations or families who had undertaken Abyss missions.
Angel recalled seeing such Abyss missions listed in Mission Hall; tasks like front-line construction, patrol and defense, and so on. However, when he had inquired about them, the attendant had been straightforward, mentioning that no one takes those missions and suggested Angel to steer clear of them too.
“Despite the organizations advising against undertaking Abyss missions, the rewards they offer are incredibly enticing, always tempting the daredevils,” Madeleine stated. “Aside from that, there are those who seek enlightenment in the face of extreme peril.”
This enlightenment in extremity is an attempt to tap into latent potential by straddling the line between life and death, hoping to breakthrough personal limitations. However, these limitations do not include the Great Barrier, as overcoming that requires not only potential but also a deep accumulation of underlying strength.
At the very top of the iceberg, there was a platform akin to a plaza. It was less populated, but it was mainly inhabited by full-fledged wizards; it was the domain of the powerful.
Seeing this zoning, Angel instinctively decided to fly towards the mid-mountain area.
However, just as he took a step to soar, Madeleine stopped him, “You didn’t undertake any Abyss missions, you don’t need to go there. Stay with me.”
With that said, Madeleine firmly grabbed his wrist and leaped, effortlessly traversing from the mid-mountain area to the peak’s platform.
The arrival of Angel and Madeleine only attracted the attention of a portion of those present.
Moreover, no one was paying any attention to Angel, a mere apprentice; instead, they were all riveted by Madeline.
Once upon a time, Madeline was part of a family of wizards from the Guman Kingdom. But ever since she joined the Savage Grottoes, she faded into obscurity, rarely showing herself openly. Hence, her trip to the Abyss with supplies from the Savage Grottoes attracted the attention of a number of wizards.
Nevertheless, Madeline didn’t exactly have a lot of star power and had just joined the wizard organizations, so her network was somewhat limited. Many simply gave her a cursory glance before returning their focus elsewhere.
Being ignored didn’t faze Madeline. She found a corner of the square with Angel, and while waiting for the exchange of goods to wrap up, she introduced the wizards from the major wizard organizations to Angel.
“Do you see that scantily clad woman over there?” Madeline’s gaze fell on a woman in the distance, dressed provocatively. She scoffed, “Such attire can only mean she is from either the Bliss Pavilion or the Garden of Sin. Her name is Beatrice, a shadow wizard…”
As Madeline was introducing the various wizards, Angel was surreptitiously observing the people around him. Even though Angel’s gaze was discreet, wizards had a keen perception. They easily noticed his gaze, but seeing as he was just an apprentice, and his expression merely showed curiosity, they chose to ignore him.
In addition to wizards, there were also a number of apprentices and magical servants here. People sneakily observing their surroundings, like Angel, were not a rare sight.
After surveying the area, Angel recognized only one or two faces from magazines, while the rest were strangers to him.
Just as he was about to retract his gaze, he accidentally locked eyes with a wizard not far away.
This was a hunched and thin old man with a white beard, his facial skin sagging, succumbing to the force of gravity. Although his physical appearance was aged, his eyes shone brightly, free of murkiness.
The old man gave Angel a nod and a small smile, then sank into deep thought as if contemplating something.
“The aristocratic lady in the purple robe carrying the lamp over there is Tong, the rising star witch of the Night Whisper Forest. I heard she has a good relationship with Liana…” Madeline turned her head and noticed that Angel was staring at an old man. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “What, do you know him?”
Angel shook his head, “No, I don’t.”
Madeline, offering no inquiry about why Angel was watching the man so intently, casually began to elucidate, “Velite hails from Western Demos, known by the moniker of ‘Twilight’s Gleam’. His reputation in the wizard community is sterling. He has an extensive network of acquaintances spread far and wide. Word has it that he even has connections in the Northern Territory and Western Lands.”
Northern Territory and Western Lands? Angel found this quite astonishing upon hearing it. The Wizarding World was known for its four foundational domains—Eastern Realm, Southern Region, Northern Territory, and Western Lands.
These four great realms were scattered far and wide, with their spatiotemporal distances nearly immeasurable. To reach any other realm was an arduous task.
This wizard called Velite—his connections reached as far as the Northern Territory and the Western Lands—this was far from a trivial matter. Could it be, had Velite ventured into other realms?
In response to Angel’s bewilderment, Madeline was uncertain of how to answer, “Maybe. I’m not well acquainted with Velite. I only heard that he left the Southern Region six hundred years ago and didn’t return until three hundred years ago. It’s possible that he indeed journeyed to other wizarding domains.”
Upon casting his gaze back at Velite, Angel noticed that he had drifted into a state of closed-eye rest. With that, Angel withdrew his attention.
Madeline continued to enlighten Angel with tidbits about the other wizards present, though there weren’t many. A significant portion of them comprised the Frost Moon’s security team. As Madeline was only vaguely acquainted with them and did not share any deep connections, she ceased her commentary after a short while.
Madeline had intended to initiate a conversation to understand more about Angel. However, at that very moment, a commotion arose from the lower layer of the Wings of Cold Frost.
From Angel’s position at the edge of the square, a slight turn of his head offered him a clear view of the situation below.
Down there, a worker unexpectedly burst apart, a colossal crimson flower blossoming from within his body. The blood-red flower, complete with a gaping maw, swayed and in an instant devoured another worker nearby.
These workers were in charge of unloading the cargo. The items sourced from the Abyss were kept within the interior of the iceberg by the Frost Moon Alliance for on-site verification, and to prevent any covert theft.
Now, as the unloading commenced, these workers were put to work. One by one, they lifted the items from inside the iceberg to be examined by the wizards of the Savage Grottoes.
“It seems there’s been a mishap with the cargo. A seed of the Abyssal Man-Eater Flower must have fallen onto one of the workers,” Madeline explained, “That’s the young form of the Abyssal Man-Eater Flower. Its seeds require a nourishing bed of blood and flesh to bloom. Now, unfortunately, that worker has become its fertiliser.”
Madeline shook her head with a sigh of regret, “I examined the order. It was Liana who requested this shipment. It seems this cargo… is a lost cause.”
A lost cause? Angel was somewhat puzzled by Madeline’s words. At this moment, Liana had appeared beneath the Wings of Cold Frost, her face extremely distressed, with Frost Moon’s guards apologizing profusely to her.
“Why would it be lost if it has already bloomed?” Angel queried, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“A single seed, under different conditions, soil, and climate, will show varying growth patterns and characteristics. The Abyssal Man-Eater Flower might have sprouted, but it emerged due to an ordinary mortal body, so its subsequent growth is inevitably affected,” Madeline elaborated.
“I’ve heard that Liana specially obtained the flesh of a wizard-level beast to nourish the Abyssal Man-Eater Flower. Given this situation, it’s no wonder she’s so furious,” Madeline further elucidated.
In the end, Frost Moon’s guards compensated Liana, while the young Abyssal Man-Eater Flower was incinerated until not a trace remained.
This was but a minor incident, yet it piqued Angel’s curiosity about this shipment.
As an alchemist, he always held immense interest in materials, especially those originating from another world.
The in-person inspection of the cargo afforded Angel an opportunity to observe.
Angel discovered that many of the goods were special materials from the surface of the Abyss, with a small portion from its inner layers, like the previous Abyssal Man-Eater Flower.
While Angel recognized most of the resources from the Abyss’s surface, he was essentially clueless when it came to those from its inner layers.
Even Madeline, despite having read the order, couldn’t make sense of these materials.
After all, the inner layers of the Abyss were a forbidden zone for wizards.
This so-called Abyss Frontline was merely at the third layer of the surface.
Even if Frost Moon wished to investigate the inner layers of the Abyss, they would only hover around the fourth layer, no one dared venture any deeper. It was said that the inner layers of the Abyss were infinite, hence the term “Infinite Abyss”. Now, with the fourth layer halting the frontline wizards, it underscored the dreadfulness of the Abyss.
Half an hour later, the transaction came to a close.
The Frost Moon Guard gradually ascended back atop the icy mountain, the Wings of Cold Frost began to flap their chilling expanse against the icy air in an unhurried rhythm.
“It’s time to embark.” The words from Madeline were as cool as a thin stream in a serene valley.
Angel cast his eyes towards the ground, at the edge of the abyss, where a score of wizards stood. A multitude of apprentices cast their hopeful and earnest eyes towards the lofty Wings of Cold Frost in the sky. Their gazes carried a concoction of farewell wishes and fervent blessings.
Embarking on the journey into the abyss, everyone knew the road ahead was as vast and unknown as the unexplored universe itself. A farewell today could well mean a goodbye forever.
…
The Wings of Cold Frost glided leisurely over the Paramjit Plateau.
Actually, the Wings of Cold Frost could speed up, but with the current merging of the two realms, spatial anomalies were as abundant as stars in the night sky. Even a minor rift could render the Wings of Cold Frost useless.
Therefore, for better safe than sorry, the members of the Frost Moon Alliance could only ask the Wings of Cold Frost to slow down.
“I’m beginning to miss your Gondola.” Madeline shared a light-hearted remark with Angel, her laughter as soothing as a gentle breeze.
The Gondola was petite and nimble; it could easily veer away even when encountering a spatial rift. Compared to the grand behemoth that was the Wings of Cold Frost, it was indeed a more favourable choice.
“The Gondola is only useful in these parts. Once we leave the Paramjit Plateau, it can’t compete with the Wings of Cold Frost.” Angel gave the structure of the Wings of Cold Frost a glance. Numerous parts of it were clearly equipped with spatial stabilization devices, indicating that the Wings of Cold Frost were capable of traversing large spatial distances.
With the added defensive capabilities of the Wings of Cold Frost, it had an all-round superiority over the Gondola.
Madeline initially wanted to pursue this topic, chat with Angel about the operation mode of the Wings of Cold Frost, and then switch to the subject of alchemy. However, she noticed that Angel had suddenly fallen into deep thought.
Perhaps Angel also discovered the unique alchemic method of the Wings of Cold Frost?
But Madeline didn’t know that at this moment, Angel was not pondering the alchemy of the Wings of Cold Frost. Instead, he was recollecting the sight of a certain individual he spotted when the Wings of Cold Frost had embarked.
White Bear.