Chapter 1117: Hundred Years of Loneliness (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The hole was called Skywell in Qin. In Cloudflow, it was called Collapsed Earth.
Saleen and the others ventured into the Skywell cautiously. They found that the place had few dangers when they descended slowly along the edges.
Magic beasts found within the Skywell were all small, the largest little more than a meter long. There were not many puddles inside the Skywell, which meant that there were underground rivers drawing rainwater away.
Saleen began using astrology for calculations after the magic compa.s.s was rendered useless. While the starlight above could hardly be seen even at night, Saleen’s Elemental Eye allowed him to clearly see the power of the stars amidst the clouds, reaching the bottom of the Skywell.
The starlight showed him the way. While Saleen’s level nine astrology was not that powerful, he was able to roughly deduce where the entrance to the temple was.
The margin of error was only about 500 meters. The Skywell was not large, as it was merely the size of a small city. Peculiar stones littered the ground. Saleen quickly locked on to their coordinates and began testing the place after taking out the Ring of Gifts.
He searched within a 500 meters radius. Although slow, the task was not difficult.
He searched for about half an hour before the ring finally sensed the spot to open the temple.
There was a crevice there, which was large enough to fit Nailisi inside in her devil form. Black mist shrouded the bottom of the crevice, which crackled and burned after Saleen dropped some power of faith on it.
The black mist did not dissipate after burning; it turned even thicker, but the toxins within the mist were all burned up by the fire. A path opened up, and Nailisi took her devil form and held onto the Grey Memory, jumping inside before anyone else.
She had been in such temples many, many times, so she knew any dangers lurking within would be easy to deal with.
However, her experience would prove to be a downfall for common folk, as she was unable to see the ground even after dropping for over 500 meters. A huge vine slithered from the side and coiled around her leg.
Nailisi swiped her Sword of Rules at it, cutting the vine up. The power of the sword was too much for the vine, and it retracted.
Saleen leapt into the place with everyone else. His body was covered by Water s.h.i.+eld and lightning danced on its surface, s.h.i.+ning light on their surroundings.
Saleen was exasperated to find another huge hole within the huge hole. The plants in the hole lashed out with their vines. What has the G.o.ddess of Nature been doing with the place? All plant life here has offensive capacities comparable to high level holy masters.
Nailisi had nothing to fear with the Sword of Rules in her hand. Saleen had his Water s.h.i.+eld, and the vines were afraid of touching the dancing lightning on the s.h.i.+eld.
Sika and Eleanor had no problem within the environment, as they both possessed powers to control nature. While their powers were not exceptional, it was still easy for them to evade the attacks.
Nicholas pulled Isabella to him and cast pale grey light from his Scepter of the Fallen, enabling him to somehow evade the attacks. The two golden grand swordmasters and Don, however, had to deal with the attacks one at a time with their own powers.
Saleen was perceptive enough to tell that the pa.s.sage of time became faster. The pa.s.sage of time within was comparable with that in the astrology tower even though they had only been falling for a hundred meters.
That temple of the Nature G.o.ddess was actually a place that changed the flow of time.
Everyone descended faster. Saleen had no choice but to cast Quickcloud and shroud everyone within. Tornado, Windblade, Fireball, Snow Flurry were within the mist, cutting, burning, and freezing all the plants that had gotten near.
The pa.s.sage of time became increasingly fast and Saleen felt his falling accelerating as well. It was fortunate that the speed adjusted itself. Saleen was able to feel the ground after falling for about ten miles.
The mist was dispersed by the heavy impact, then the Water s.h.i.+eld was no longer able to protect everyone and shattered. Flight abilities were limited.
The impact made Saleen feel as if all of his bones would come apart. If it had not been for Sika catching him in time, he would have been injured.
“How’s everyone doing?” Saleen casted Fluorescence and shone light into the surroundings.
Groans were heard everywhere as everyone hit the ground. They had all been falling at irregular speeds, and none of them was aware that they were about to hit the ground, until they were about ten meters away from the ground.
Nicholas was the least injured. His fallen divine arts were unaffected, but holy masters were not good with flight, and he had to protect Isabella while he was doing it.
The s.p.a.ce before them was huge. Saleen found the tall temple without even having to search for it. The temple had the most extravagant appearance compared to all the others that they had visited.
The 24 pillars outside the temple were over a hundred meters tall. The gate of the temple was open, and Saleen was able to see the altar within. There was nothing at the altar. There were only carvings that seemed to be dancing and s.h.i.+fting on the walls.
Saleen distributed magic liquids while Nicholas patched everyone up. Saleen and Sika peered inside.
Time pa.s.sed even more quickly inside the temple. Saleen peered inside and looked at the carvings on the walls. The pa.s.sage of time was at least ten times faster than it was outside the gate.
Saleen lifted his arm and cast an ice bomb. The ice bomb shot into the air and burned, lighting up a larger area.
It was a huge, independent s.p.a.ce. There were only four large halls with some distance between them. Saleen looked at the four halls and pondered.
“Master, there might not be much around.” Nailisi unleashed demons to search. The demons were specifically trained to search for valuables and had developed a keen eye for things. None of them returned with anything noteworthy.
The halls were not constructed of conventional materials, as they were able to keep the temple intact for over ten thousand years. They were incredibly high level.
The main purpose of the construction materials was to maintain the pa.s.sage of time, and Saleen was wondering if he should tear the temple apart and bag everything.
“Take the demons in and have a look.”
“Yes, master.” Nailisi summoned a weak demonic spirit and had it head into the hall before Saleen. Its movements became incredibly fast after heading inside.
“Nailisi, tell the demon to measure the s.p.a.ce,” Saleen ordered. The place was not huge and his Element Eye proved sufficient to see everything.
However, every place seemed to have different flow of time, and only the inside of that hall seemed stable. Relying on the Elemental Eye would yield inaccurate results.
“What do you all think?”
Everyone looked at each other. They followed Saleen with the very clear goal to search for any equipment capable of enhancing their powers within the temple. Saleen had set an example by taking apart the temple they last visited and leaving nothing behind.
“My liege, we can’t afford to take this one apart. The chaotic flow of time would overwhelm us,” Nicholas said. He knew that when someone was sufficiently trained in divine arts, they would be able to control the pa.s.sage of time within a large area.
Such abilities were available within prophecy spells. However, the area such spells worked in was too small and they were usually used for attacking individuals.
“Heh!” Saleen was hardly disappointed. “I’m going to train inside. The pa.s.sage of time here is way, way faster than in Myers Mainland. It changed with every single meter we dropped.
The pa.s.sage of time was the most stable in the hall, and it was possible that it was hundreds of thousands of times faster than outside.”
Everyone was excited to hear Saleen’s decision. Everyone would be able to enhance their powers before they left.
Saleen had powerful enemies. If he were to be able to advance while training there, he would no longer have had to fear the great head inquisitor.
“I take it that there are no objections?” Saleen asked.
“You’re the boss!” Sul answered. Saleen was acknowledged by everyone present and even Don did not object to it. He wanted to advance as well, and he would need to heal the damage he sustained from the pope, and that would require time.
The s.p.a.ce that was created by the G.o.ddess of Myers had been a common training ground back in ancient times.
The Six Element s.p.a.ce created by Raphael bore some similarities. What was different was that the changes in the pa.s.sage of time within the Six Element s.p.a.ce was limited.
The greatest use of that s.p.a.ce was to provide powerful elemental powers, far exceeding the elemental badges and elemental creatures that Saleen mastered.
Saleen grinned and intended to walk into the hall, but Jola pulled him back. “We’ll head inside first, one after another. We will tell you to come in if we find no problems after spending a day in there.”
Saleen did not refuse. Jola circled around Saleen and entered.
There was no danger within the hall. His braces did not even react even he went inside. Saleen and the others saw Jola trace the walls as he walked, searching for traps. Jola finished touring the hall within minutes.
He walked onto the altar, and there was nothing to be found there. Jola stooped down to study the materials of the altar, pondered for a bit, and then waved.
Nicholas walked in next. He mimicked Jola’s search for danger after venturing inside. The hall was only about 300 meters both in length and in width. Nicholas searched for a bit and found no problems.
Eleanor went next. She, an elf, searched the place with her elvish senses and skills after entering the hall, and found no danger. Saleen said, “No need to search any further. We’ll all train here. Furthermore, the place should come apart soon enough.
Sika was startled before she understood what Saleen meant. The temple was only in operation after it opened. The pa.s.sage of time below was the same as it was above ground before they came here. The G.o.ddess of Myers’ divine spell would work when someone opened the temple.
The construction materials there were common, at least back then. A level 18 G.o.d would be capable of constructing a s.p.a.ce that could stay in operation all the time. Ten thousand years were nothing. However, the materials did not seem to be able to hold that long.
It was a training ground that the G.o.ddess had prepared for future generations. As time pa.s.sed too quickly within, the temple would decay. Saleen had no way of calculating when the divine spell would cease, so he had to use whatever remaining to his benefit.
Saleen went straight into the hall without bothering with anyone else, walking straight to the altar.
His Elemental Eye finally stabilized after he entered, and he was able to observe the materials used for the altar, which served as the core of the hall and kept the divine spell in operation.
“Go find your own place to train,” Saleen said and then sat down, beginning to meditate.