Chapter 253: The Ritual in Progress

Chapter 253: The Ritual in Progress

Watching Zheng Yichen with his eyes rolled back and picking his nose, Dan Marina’s slightly troubled expression quickly faded away. Since Zheng Yichen’s path was blocked, it didn’t mean there was no solution. Ten days or half a month was nothing—just a little maneuver would keep Oss and the others delayed here without anyone noticing anything amiss.

She had done this before, after all. She was quite skilled at it.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back. As for this place… Well, you probably don’t need the key anyway.” Locking the door of a house in Kaja City might keep ordinary people out, but stopping a Witch? Better to leave the door open to avoid losing a lock.

“Wait, there’s one more thing. Something you’ll be very interested in.”

“What is it?”

“An Evil God Ritual.”

Zheng Yichen twitched his mouth. An Evil God Ritual? These days, that was all he had been studying. But aside from Loris, no one else knew about this. How did Dan Marina find out? His Alchemical Avatar was finely crafted, so the moment his mood changed, the avatar mirrored it on his face—though it was a bit stiff and subtle.

But Dan Marina was sharp. Noticing this momentary change, she sensed something and couldn’t help but show a rather ambiguous smile. “You really are something, Little Dragon. You’ve already looked into Evil God Rituals? Were you unaffected?”

Irene also glanced at Zheng Yichen. She knew all too well how tempting the knowledge of Evil God Rituals could be. People with strong will power could resist it, but frequent exposure would grind down even the firmest resolve, like water wearing away stone. Of course, such cases were rare.

Anyone with that kind of willpower would realize how troublesome the knowledge of Evil God Rituals was and resist the urge to keep studying it, preventing their sanity from steadily dropping until they became crazy…

To frequently study it without being affected, one needed a specific method to refresh their mind—almost a secret art. Zheng Yichen clearly didn’t possess such a secret method, so what was his situation? Had the knowledge of Evil God Rituals already corrupted him, or was he still fine?

“What effects? Aside from the content feeling a bit tempting, I got a good night’s sleep and didn’t feel anything else.” Zheng Yichen waved his hand, looking suspiciously at Dan Marina. “Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

He had researched Evil God Rituals because of Magic Arms. But if Dan Marina was bringing it up now, what was she planning? Something troublesome?

“First, tell me why you suddenly became interested in the knowledge of Evil God Rituals.”

“…Magic Arms.”

Dan Marina smiled calmly. “Interested in doing this together with me?”

“Reasons,” Zheng Yichen asked after a moment of silence.

“Not long ago, I discovered an experiment by the Sanctuary Church.” At this point, Dan Marina glanced at Irene but didn’t hide the matter. She continued, “The experiment involved using Magic Arms as a foundation for an Evil God Ritual. And it succeeded.”

“Succeeded?” Before Zheng Yichen could speak, Irene frowned. “What then? How did the Sanctuary Church handle that Evil God?”

Were they just idly creating Evil Gods to kill like cabbages? The people of the Sanctuary Church weren’t that bored. If they had done this secretly, there must be a good reason. As a primary target of the Sanctuary Church, Irene took this seriously. Even if their actions weren’t aimed at Witches for now, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t do so in the future.

“Well, they found some followers for that Evil God.”

Irene stared at Dan Marina with a look that said, “Are you kidding me?” Dan Marina pretended not to notice and shrugged before continuing. “It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. The Sanctuary Church created a very special Evil God, similar to the one in the Demon Sword Sect—so special it might not even be an Evil God but something more like a ‘deity.’”

“So you want to try it with me and create a special ‘thing’ too?” Zheng Yichen finally managed to interject. Something as special as the Evil God in the Demon Sword Sect… Thinking about the changes in the Holy Spirit Hammer from the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but click his tongue. The Sanctuary Church really knew how to pick Magic Arms.

Magic Arms with Sacred Attributes were inherently effective against Evil God’s Power. Using such Magic Arms for an Evil God Ritual—failure would be normal, but success? What kind of Evil God would that create?

Or perhaps something that wasn’t an Evil God? The thought was thrilling. Zheng Yichen could barely restrain his urge to try an experiment himself. He hadn’t done so yet not because of insufficient conditions—Evil God Rituals were quite simple once you understood the basics, especially the part about drawing the ritual’s Rune Patterns. The reason he hadn’t acted was his desire for greater caution.

The more he understood, the better he could handle unexpected situations. He wouldn’t be left clueless, watching helplessly or making things worse by forcing a solution. There was another reason too: he found it troublesome!

What if they really created a special Evil God? What then? Kill it? Wouldn’t that be a bit brutal? Leave it alone? Who would take responsibility if something went wrong? Nurture it? No time for that…

“Trying won’t cost you anything. It’ll also help us understand what the Sanctuary Church is planning.”

“With your ability, do you even need to do this?” Zheng Yichen asked in surprise. Dan Marina’s Tracing ability, if on Earth, would be the number one tool for solving crimes—no need to search for clues; just visit the scene and everything would be revealed.

“I want to understand it more clearly too. But do you think the Sanctuary Church is a joke? I’ve escaped their control, but they still have ways to interfere with my abilities. While the effect weakens when spread across the entire Sanctuary Church, they can effectively conceal some critical information.”

“Tch, I thought your ability was more overpowered,” Zheng Yichen sneered. He was tempted. Doing this alone felt somewhat inadequate, but with a Witch helping—no, Irene definitely wouldn’t miss this, and Loris would likely join to watch too. With three Witches backing him up, this was a guaranteed success!

Dan Marina gave Zheng Yichen a thoughtful look. “If a Witch’s abilities were truly overpowered, we wouldn’t have been suppressed for so long.”

In this world, humanity still held the upper hand. With such a vast population, even if ninety-nine percent of humans had ‘average’ Talent, the remaining small percentage were prodigies. Scattered across humanity’s immense numbers, they easily outnumbered Witches or other powerful races.

The stronger a race was individually, the fewer its members! The most obvious example was the Dragon Clan.

With the Witches’ skills, especially Irene’s expertise in Magic, Zheng Yichen didn’t need to worry about preparations. He just had to pick a location. The rest didn’t require his involvement. Once everything was ready, he would personally preside over the ritual.

“As someone with the most unique ability and the creator of Magic Arms, you’re the most suitable to preside over the Evil God Ritual,” Dan Marina said with a smile. Their location was a valley… Well, another valley. Such places were secluded enough, and any extra noise would be blocked by the surrounding rocks. They just needed to secure the area above.

Irene didn’t speak. She just snapped her fingers quietly, causing slight magical ripples around them. These ripples soon vanished, and then a dozen small, dark red dots of light appeared in the air—each about the size of a pinky fingernail. But Zheng Yichen knew that if these dots exploded, they could easily level the entire valley. If concentrated…

In short, he should first mourn for the potential Evil God. If it was obedient, they could talk; if not, there would be no “later.”

Zheng Yichen glanced at the offerings placed to the side. Irene had gathered these offerings. At first, there were all sorts: humans, Alien Races, Magical Beasts… He really didn’t know how she had quietly acquired so many. He naturally skipped over the humans. After all, Evil God Rituals didn’t strictly require human offerings, even though using humans increased the chances of creating an Evil God with strong initial power.

The main issue was that Zheng Yichen felt uncomfortable about it!

Humans died when killed, and in this world, their True Spirit returned to the River Styx for reincarnation, preserving the last trace of their origin. If used as offerings, their True Spirit would be ground to dust along with their Soul. As for Alien Races, specifically those with extraordinary traits—like natural eagle eyes or berserker abilities—aside from these traits, they were similar to humans.

Choosing them also made Zheng Yichen uncomfortable. So, Magical Beasts were best… As for the humans and Alien Races, Irene erased their memories and sent them back—to the largest prison in Kaja City…

Seeing her expressionless face at the time, Zheng Yichen suddenly understood the Sanctuary Church’s perspective. It seemed… even among Witches belonging to the lawful faction, quite a few held an indifferent attitude toward human life. The difference was that those in the lawful faction would make different choices. Irene had taken those humans and Alien Races from Kaja City’s prison.

If it were the Undying Witch, she probably wouldn’t bother finding an experimental location. She’d just try it in the city. Finding people? Completely unnecessary. Some powerful Evil God Ritual Arrays, if drawn large enough, could transform all living beings within into offerings when activated. If drawn big enough, an entire city could be sacrificed!

The effectiveness of such Evil God Ritual Arrays depended on the power imbued by the drawer. For someone of the Undying Witch’s level, if no one intervened, sacrificing all the Holy Spirits in a city would be a matter of minutes.

“Let me wash my face first.” A large ball of water appeared in Zheng Yichen’s claw. He splashed it on his dragon face and rubbed vigorously. Though it served no practical purpose, it provided some psychological comfort. Flipping through his Magical Grimoire, Zheng Yichen began tracing with his finger. A Magic Rune Array gradually took shape…

Irene glanced at the Magic Rune Array and waved her hand. A instantly formed Magic Rune Array appeared in front of her finger, identical to the one Zheng Yichen was about to draw. A magical glow spread over the restrained Magical Beasts, and their eyes turned vacant. Their bodies, trembling from fear and anxiety, grew still.

It was no wonder they were scared. The pressure from three Witches standing there would have been enough to scare them to death if Loris and the others hadn’t held back.

“Offerings are more effective when in a state of extreme fear,” Dan Marina remarked from the side.

“Do you think I read those books for nothing?” Zheng Yichen rolled his eyes. “What do I care about effectiveness? I’m not a Cultist, squeezing my brains out to summon an Evil God with rare and powerful abilities.”

“Heh, you’re so kind,” Dan Marina chuckled and said nothing more. Witches’ indifference to life came from living long enough to see through many things. If an outsider acted this way, Dan Marina would feel disdain, but Zheng Yichen was no outsider… She thought this side of him was good.

As for his mindset? Did it matter? Aside from this ‘flaw,’ Zheng Yichen’s mindset was quite ‘upright.’ He also had good relationships with several Witches. Unless he deliberately courted danger, he was unlikely to face real threats in most situations.

“If I weren’t kind, I’d have already written you down in my little book as a troublemaker.” Zheng Yichen let out a soft sigh and pulled out the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. “The question is, which Magic Arms should I use?”

On the opened pages of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, over a dozen different Magic Arms floated in a circle.

“You decide,” Loris said to Dan Marina. If she wanted to understand something, she must know which Magic Arms to choose.

“Start with the hammer.”

“Huh? Something that’s been used before. Will it work?”

“We won’t know until we try,” Dan Marina said, crossing her arms. “It’s not like we’re short on offerings.”

Fine, they’d try. Zheng Yichen slapped the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, and the Holy Spirit Hammer appeared in his hand. He planted this Sacred Attribute Magic Arms in the most important Node at the center of the Evil God Ritual Array, perfectly connecting it to the entire array.

As for the array itself, it was a standard one without any extra additions. For an experiment, there was no need for complications. The first attempt should be as stable as possible.

“Huff, huff…” Zheng Yichen pressed his claw against a Node at the edge of the Evil God Ritual Array. Other Nodes held the restrained offerings. As he injected his Mana, the ritual array activated immediately. The crimson Rune Patterns glowed with an ominous, evil aura, forming a stark contrast with the Sacred Attribute Magic Arms at the center. Two powers that should have been completely conflicting showed no signs of clashing… Everything proceeded smoothly.