The oath-taker forcibly suppressed the surprise and anger in his heart, trying to keep his mental frequency stable, lest Han Xiao see through him.
He observed Han Xiao's expression and mental fluctuations, unable to detect any probing or teasing, only Black Star's curiosity.
Did Black Star inquire about the Sanctuary because he understood the intentions of the Sacred Covenant, or had he heard the term from elsewhere? There were very few people in the universe who knew about the Sanctuary.
The oath-taker's mood was like riding a runaway spatial turbulence, up and down. He tried to remain calm and pretended to be casual:
"Where did you hear about the Sanctuary?"
"Someone told me."
Han Xiao lied casually, naturally not telling the truth.
"Who?" The oath-taker pressed on. "Very, very few people in the universe know of the Sanctuary's existence. Even advanced civilizations may not know it exists."
Since Black Star had uttered the name "Sanctuary," the oath-taker understood that Black Star possessed certain information. If he pretended not to know about the Sanctuary, he would cut off the trail. He very much wanted to know how much Han Xiao actually knew.
"Well... what if I said it was an inspiration? Would you believe that?"
Han Xiao had no choice but to pull out the old standby excuse. Although its credibility wasn't high, he was just using it to stall and wasn't trying to convince the other party.
But to his surprise, the oath-taker nodded lightly, raised no further objections, and seemed to treat this explanation as the correct answer, saying:
"That is indeed a simple way to perceive the Sanctuary, but it's uncontrollable and very vague. Only existences whose life level has reached a certain point can possibly establish a faint connection with the Sanctuary in the dark—in the instant when inspiration and the universe intersect, occasionally seeing its blurry outline. But your senses are separated from it by endless dimensions of space and time, and you can never touch it with your intuition. At most, you can hear murmuring whispers in your ear, telling ancient languages..."
Han Xiao was stunned by what he said.
Little brother, what's wrong with you? How did you suddenly veer off into a Cthulhu style?
Hearing the oath-taker speak so mysteriously, Han Xiao had no idea what to make of it. He really didn't know what the Sanctuary was. Today, he had only asked out of curiosity, taking a shot in the dark, and it seemed that the Sacred Covenant organization really knew the Sanctuary's secrets.
"Stop rambling. Can you say something I can understand?"
Han Xiao couldn't help but interrupt.
The oath-taker was silent for a moment, as if hesitating whether to reveal information. After thinking for a while, he decided to say a little basic information that wouldn't hurt, and slowly said:
"The Sanctuary... is an ancient existence. No one knows when it appeared. It may be even more ancient than the three great civilizations. Only at special times or with specific methods can it be perceived or even approached."
Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
Having finally caught someone who knew something, he naturally couldn't miss the opportunity to ask.
"Then what exactly is the Sanctuary? Where is it?"
Hearing this, the oath-taker gave Han Xiao a strange look. Seeing that Han Xiao's expression didn't seem fake, he asked:
"You don't know?"
"If I knew, why would I ask you?" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
His understanding of the Sacred Covenant organization was limited to the surface. He really didn't know the connection between the Sacred Covenant organization and the Sanctuary. He didn't know that his question had accidentally hit the nail on the head, scaring the oath-taker badly.
Hearing this, the oath-taker breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, feeling a burst of gratitude.
It seems that Black Star really doesn't know our plan, so did I misunderstand? Maybe there's no mole, and Black Star just got the information from somewhere else...
Thinking this, the oath-taker didn't stop talking and continued:
"The Sanctuary doesn't exist in the material world, nor does it exist in the secondary dimensions. It has no concept of geographical location. I don't know how to define the nature of the Sanctuary. I think it should be considered a phenomenon."
"A phenomenon?" Han Xiao was curious.
"Yes, it's a phenomenon."
He waited for the oath-taker to elaborate, but the oath-taker had no intention of explaining.
The two stared at each other, and there was silence for a while.
Seeing this, Han Xiao knew that the oath-taker was unwilling to continue talking about this, so he changed the subject:
"Then what's inside the Sanctuary?"
"..."
The two continued to stare at each other.
"How many Sanctuaries are there in total?"
"Six." The oath-taker answered this time.
Han Xiao was slightly stunned. This answer was somewhat unexpected.
He asked a few more questions, such as "How to find the Sanctuary" and "How to open the Sanctuary," etc. Without exception, the oath-taker all said he didn't know.
'This guy definitely knows more, but he just won't reveal the key information. Then the Sanctuary must be something very important... although I still don't know what it's for.'
This thought flashed through his mind. Seeing that he couldn't squeeze any more information out of the oath-taker for the time being, Han Xiao ended the topic of the Sanctuary and returned to the transaction between the two parties, re-establishing the transaction time, location, and method.
Having achieved his goal, the oath-taker's figure suddenly exploded, turning into swirling black flames that dissipated.
Sensing for a while, confirming that the oath-taker had left, Han Xiao pinched his chin and fell into thought.
"The Sacred Covenant organization seems to know a lot of secrets. Perhaps I need to find a way to dig up some information from them. Now I can only wait for the oath-taker to contact me, which is a bit passive. During the transaction, I can try to track the other party's messenger... Speaking of which, there are actually six Sanctuaries?"
Han Xiao was puzzled. This was different from his guess. His original guess was that there were only five Sanctuaries, so why six?
Unfortunately, the oath-taker spoke ambiguously, and he didn't know if it was the truth or a lie, and he was unwilling to reveal more information.
His mind turned, and an idea came to him:
"After the transaction is completed and the benefits are in hand, I can consider exposing the other party's attempt to revive the Firstborn, and maybe I can exchange it for information about the Sanctuary, as a hush money."
…
On the other hand, in the secret hall of the Sacred Covenant organization's base, the oath-taker, who was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, dispelled the mental projection, and clusters of starry flames retracted into his body.
"How did it go?"
Luo and Fei were waiting below, looking up at their boss.
"Black Star is easy to talk to, and the transaction has been re-established." The oath-taker slowly said, "Prepare our side's bargaining chips. The transaction method is still the same as planned, to prevent Black Star from tracking us."
"Understood." The two nodded.
The oath-taker nodded, his tone a little solemn and a little expectant, and said in a deep voice:
"Because of the information state disturbance revealed by the Child of Destiny, the appointed day has been brought forward. After obtaining the Sacred Light Particles, prepare to open the Third Sanctuary and carry out the awakening ceremony. Wan Ying's ability is the base for synthesis. We don't have time to wait for him to complete the transformation completely. We must complete the finishing touches."
As he spoke, the oath-taker's gaze became distant.
"It's time to fulfill my oath and welcome the return of history."
"What about the mole..."
The two brought up the sore spot.
The oath-taker's emotions were interrupted, and he gnashed his teeth and said sullenly:
"Hmph, don't look for it for now. I might be mistaken."
…
Secondary dimensional world, Netherworld Dimension.
The shattered black floating islands were pieced together, turning into a black land with a texture like flowing desert, sometimes appearing as peaks and hills, sometimes as deep valleys and cliffs, the terrain changing unpredictably.
The sky was a hazy gray, and heavy black clouds covered the sky, with shades of color forming a gradient of layers. A pale white sphere hung in the center of the sky, like a full moon, and the gentle moonlight illuminated and passed through the surrounding clouds, with faint silver-white starlight scattered across the earth, the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful.
With the dimensional source energy replenished by Hela, the shattered space walls here had been repaired after more than half a year, and the spatial turbulence was blocked outside, no longer the miserable state of being riddled with holes. This was the true appearance of the Netherworld Dimension.
In the very center of the Netherworld, there was a red lake, with waves rising without wind, creating startling waves. Upon closer inspection, this was energy condensed to an almost liquid state, the death energy controlled by Hela.
At this time, the dazzling crimson was stained with faint black gas, which was the aura of the Netherworld. Through the Netherworld imprint attached to Hela, the connection between the two allowed her Esper Ability intensity to gain a huge additional bonus.
This was the legacy left by the previous Death Esper, which had been inherited by Hela, and her combat power had increased by a notch.
Directly above the crimson lake, Hela sat cross-legged in mid-air, her body surrounded by a faint red aura, her eyes tightly closed, her eyelashes twitching, releasing her own energy to replenish the Netherworld's source energy.
At this time, the figure of the Netherworld Land God, Oni Selu, appeared beside Hela.
"Your connection with me is getting closer and closer."
Hela opened her eyes and said expressionlessly, "How much have you recovered after absorbing my energy for several months?"
"About three percent, which is enough to resist the spatial storm of the secondary dimensional world."
"Only that little?" Hela frowned.
"After all, the Netherworld's source energy comes from two kinds of Esper Abilities. If a Life Esper wielder reaches Super-A Grade and replenishes the Netherworld's source energy with you, it will produce a resonance reaction, greatly accelerating the Netherworld's repair speed. Now that there's only you, the efficiency is naturally not that high." Oni Selu smiled.
"I see..." Hela nodded, suddenly thinking of something and asked, "By the way, now that the Netherworld has recovered its stability, can the heroic spirit souls stored in the dimensional core be released?"
"It's possible, but it's too early now. I suggest you don't do that." Oni Selu shook her head. "This is the tomb of heroic spirits, and there are many wandering souls. Their free activities consume the Netherworld's source energy, and the stronger the soul during its lifetime, the greater the consumption to maintain it, which further reduces the repair efficiency... After the Netherworld recovers to 30% and activates the permanent soul soothing function, it's best to keep them asleep."
"So you mean the power isn't enough now?"
"You could also explain it that way."
Hela sighed. Although the Netherworld was strong, the recovery to its full glory was still far away, and she didn't know when she would be able to summon heroic spirit reincarnation warriors like her predecessor.
At this time, Hela suddenly became curious about this and asked:
"Speaking of which, the Netherworld can temporarily resurrect the dead of the past and descend into the world again. Besides that, are there any other ways to bring the dead back to life?"
Hearing this, Oni Selu recalled for a while and said uncertainly:
"When Master Nigers and Master Eros were still alive, I seemed to hear them mention a special phenomenon that seemed to be related to the resurrection of the dead."
"There really is? What is it?" Hela asked.
"It seems to be something called the Sanctuary... The two masters once argued about it, but they rarely mentioned it later... It seems that someone invited them to carry out an action related to the Sanctuary, but the specific details are unclear, they refused."
"So what exactly is the Sanctuary? Is its principle the same as the Netherworld?"
"I don't know. My understanding of it isn't very deep either. I just overheard their conversation, but it is said that the Sanctuary is very capable and resurrecting the dead is just one of its effects." Oni Selu shook her head.
"I see..."
Hela nodded. She just asked casually and didn't take it to heart.
But Oni Selu thought for a while and said, "If you are very curious, some of the Firstborn heroic spirits in the Netherworld may know something, but after waking them up, there's no way to force them to continue sleeping."
"Then let's forget about it for now. I'll wait until the soul soothing function is restored. There's no rush."
Hela shook her head.
She secretly noted the information about the Sanctuary and planned to go back and tell Black Star to discuss it.
——
ps: (py recommends a book, <
(Brothers who are interested can join the vip group, number 547599250, requires 10,000 fan value "(•̆ᵕ•̆)◞♡)