The old witch listened to Leilin's words, her gaze fixed on the dark-haired, handsome young man for a long time before a dry, raspy voice escaped her throat.
"I've known you for almost two years, yet I never knew you were such a timid wizard..."
Her impression of Leilin had always been of someone incredibly reckless and bold, someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, a man with no bottom line.
"Wizards live very long lives. Two years is hardly long at all. Besides, choosing to abandon a course of action because of obvious danger is not a sign of cowardice..." Leilin replied with a smile.
"So you're absolutely unwilling to continue?" the old witch asked.
"..." Silence was her answer.
"Bang!" Before the old witch could say anything else, Jay, standing behind her, immediately made his move.
A turquoise energy hurricane instantly swept across the area where Leilin stood.
Crack! Crisp sounds exploded continuously.
Then, black flames burst forth from the hurricane, burning half of the small hall and even chasing after Jay.
"Hmph!" Jay snorted coldly, his cloak rustling without wind as it stirred up a ring of black energy particles.
The flames and energy particles met in mid-air, and a powerful explosion boomed in the void.
Jay's body trembled, and he directly stumbled back three steps, the aura around him fluctuating wildly.
"Enough!" The old witch stepped in front of Jay, a green gleam shooting from her eyes.
Leilin, with his extremely keen observation, recognized this as a sign she was about to lose control. He didn't want to fall out with this old witch just yet. Therefore, Leilin smiled faintly, retreated to the side, and dismissed the magical fluctuations around his body.
"And Jay, you too. Bloody Hand and I are friends. There's no need to be so wary!" the old witch said to Jay behind her upon seeing Leilin yield, the green light in her eyes dimming.
"Understood!" Jay replied in a low voice.
"Bloody Hand, though we haven't known each other long, we understand each other's character. Just state your conditions outright!"
Things were developing somewhat contrary to Leilin's expectations.
He had thought that, given the strength he had displayed and his lack of interest in competing with the old witch for whatever was in here, she would rationally let him leave directly or explore other locations.
Leilin was a rational person. Knowing there was danger inside the laboratory and that there was nothing clearly defined inside worth his attention, he naturally wouldn't take the risk.
But now, it was obvious that something inside Laboratory Number One required Leilin's help to open or bypass, which was why the old witch seemed somewhat humble.
"As a show of good faith, first give me the next section of the compressed Spiritual Power data I received earlier!" Leilin directly made a demand.
"No problem!" Without a moment's hesitation, the old witch tossed a green leaf towards Leilin.
Leilin caught it, and the Chip immediately indicated it had received a large amount of information and image data.
According to the Chip's analysis, this data was indeed the remaining part of the content the old witch had provided last time.
"And here, add these! How about it? Enough for you to take one risk?"
Seeing Leilin fall into contemplation, the old witch then tossed a black pouch towards Leilin.
"These items, even if you used them to invite some peak First-rank Wizards to help, would have a very high chance of success. Well?"
Leilin caught the pouch, opened it, and his expression changed slightly.
Then, he gave the old witch a long look. "For the sake of our two-year acquaintance, I'll take this one risk with you. However, the moment I sense something is wrong, I will withdraw immediately and won't get involved in whatever follows..."
"Of course!" the old witch agreed.
Then, stepping past Leilin's figure, she inserted the brass key in her hand into the keyhole.
Clank!
Clank!
As the old witch turned the key, the sound of internal mechanisms operating began.
The sound started very faintly, gradually grew louder, and finally, the sound of interlocking gears echoed throughout the entire hall.
Click!
The black iron door cracked open along multiple fissures, then, following these cracks, it quickly shattered into countless small black iron fragments. These fragments swiftly retreated to both sides, revealing the scene inside Laboratory Number One.
Remains! What met Leilin's eyes were countless white human bone relics.
Densely packed bones, layer upon layer, were piled up into a small mountain of white.
Then, a putrid scent that had lain dormant for many years, accompanied by the stench of death and decay, and thick Negative Energy Particles that were dense enough to be solidified, formed a dark gray tide and surged toward the three of them.
This Laboratory Number One in the ancient Soul-Slaying Cult's secret realm was actually a scene resembling a massive human slaughterhouse!
Facing this wave of Negative Energy, a black halo flashed around Leilin's body. Then, he took a few deep, comfortable breaths.
For a Dark
"Indeed... it's just as the records say!"
The old witch and Jay, however, had come prepared. They unfurled a scroll and enveloped themselves in a fiery red protective shield.
Outside the shield, grayish-black Negative Energy Particles constantly assaulted the barrier, only to be burned away by the Fire System energy particles on the outer edge.
Once the wave passed, the old witch stood completely unharmed. At this moment, her eyes were fixed intently on the peak of the White Bone Mountain, a rarely seen look of extreme excitement flashing in them.
"According to the records, the altar I need is located at the very top of this White Bone Mountain!"
The old witch strode forward quickly and stepped onto the ground paved with white bones.
Crack!
The bones, weathered for an unknown length of time, crumbled to powder beneath her feet, forming a thick layer.
Leilin and Jay followed slowly behind.
Leilin walked along, casually poking at the bone fragments on the ground. While most of the bones had decayed beyond recognition, he could still find a few complete skeletons.
Now in his hand, he held a white bone that seemed subtly thicker than those around it, examining it carefully.
"Just from its shape, this appears to be a human right femur!" Leilin weighed the bone in his hand. "It's rather heavy, and the bone density is obviously reinforced. Not something an ordinary person would have!"
"Chip! Analyze the composition!"
A faint blue light flickered in Leilin's eyes.
"Ding! Commencing sample data collection. Carbon element comparison in progress..."
The Chip quickly provided its answer: "Right femur of a human with Knight-level strength. Age approximately 5,341 years..."
"A Knight?"
Leilin's gaze swept to the surroundings.
At the base of the White Bone Mountain, where the area was widest and the number of bones greatest, most were from ordinary people. Knight-level remains were extremely rare.
But as they climbed higher, Knight-level skeletons began to appear everywhere. Leilin even spotted several sets of Great Knight remains.
By the time they reached the mountainside, the path was entirely paved with Knight and Great Knight bones. Even Apprentice-level remains were occasionally seen.
Wizards carried a certain concentration of radiation, a trait that remained quite noticeable even on their skeletons.
Even the old witch and Jay progressed from initial uncertainty to sharp intakes of breath upon discovering these remains.
"Given this scale, at least twenty thousand Wizard Apprentices must be buried here, plus an unknown number of full Wizards..." Leilin let out a deep breath. "Only in the ancient era could such a scale have been assembled!"
Simultaneously, he now understood the reason for the downfall of the ancient Soul-Slaying Cult.
Regardless of their motive, slaughtering so many Wizards at once would have undoubtedly incited universal outrage. This was different from slaughtering ordinary mortals—it was a grave crime that demanded severe punishment!
With this discovery, the three Wizards involuntarily slowed their pace.
Sure enough, as they neared the summit, they discovered a large number of full Wizards' corpses!
On the mountaintop, one could see semi-eroded corpses from time to time. The robes they wore were still clearly visible, and some were so well-preserved they seemed merely asleep.
The residual radiation emanating from these Wizards far surpassed that of ordinary Apprentices. Some of their lingering auras alone were enough to make Leilin wary.
"Some haven't even fully decayed..." the old witch exclaimed in amazement.
"The environment here is very enclosed, and it seems special preservation measures were taken. Plus, these Wizards were no ordinary people in life, so this situation is possible..." Leilin replied calmly.
At that moment, he was stepping on the face of a female Wizard with delicate features. Her facial structure was perfect, with fine eyelashes and beautiful, clearly visible eyes. One could imagine she must have been a rare beauty among Wizards in ancient times. But Leilin's foot pressed down on her face without hesitation, as if stepping on a paving stone.
At this point, the White Bone Mountain had transformed into a corpse mountain. If they wanted to proceed, they had no choice but to trample over these ancient Wizards' remains.
"This is sacrilege! Naked sacrilege! Those madmen of the ancient Soul-Slaying Cult are desecrating our dignity as Wizards!!!"
Contrary to Leilin's expectations, it was Jay—the one who seemed somewhat aloof among the three—who first spoke out to condemn this crime.
"Indeed! But in the ancient era, power determined everything! These Wizards, having been caught by the Soul-Slaying Cult, had to bear the consequences..." Leilin nodded.
As a Wizard himself, he naturally felt a degree of sympathy for his kind. But wasn't the current Wizard world also like this?
"Enough talk, we've arrived!"
The old witch, who had been walking at the front with her head down, suddenly stopped. Her tone was somewhat emotional, filled with an indescribable fervor and longing!