The Garden of Spirits covered a large area.
From Gu Nan's understanding, this seemed to be an official place set up by the Dark Empire dedicated to growing rare plants, but the government didn’t admit this.
There were even missions in the game digging into this matter, but it no longer held much appeal to Gu Nan at this point in time.
Gu Nan wasn't too familiar with the interior of the garden, but there was really no chance of getting lost with the divine spear guiding them, and they headed straight for their goal.
"Is this the treasure?" As Gu Nan finally stopped at a place, Karina couldn't help looking around suspiciously.
Because there was nothing around them; their surroundings were completely empty.
There didn't seem to be anything strange underneath the ground either. It was a breeze for gods like them to determine whether the ground was hollow or solid.
"It’s indeed here," David confirmed instead. Although this God of Labyrinths was a little cowardly and a little too good at attracting aggro, he still had an extremely strong control over his divine authority.
However, he was similarly puzzled as to where exactly the first Blacksmith God had hidden the so-called treasure.
While the God of Labyrinths was responsible for leading the way, he wasn’t responsible for digging up the treasure.
Gu Nan, on the other hand, was very familiar with the process. Although he hadn't personally dug up this "treasure" in the game, there were bound to be players who did.
A large advantage players held was their ability to communicate with each other, and Gu Nan had also seen the process on forums and guides.
He took out the two broken spears, then ruthlessly plunged them into the ground.
The reason the word “ruthless” was used was because Gu Nan's movements and demeanor were indeed vicious, as if he was stabbing into an enemy's body.
And to the surprise of the two beside him, right after Gu Nan finished, the ground cracked in a very strange way.
It didn’t look like the cracks that naturally formed on the ground. Instead, it felt a bit like a needle piercing into skin, and even after the spear entered the ground, some black, sticky fluid started oozing out of the ground.
"This is…" David stared at the ground in shock. He felt an extremely familiar energy from the black fluid.
This familiarity didn’t come from having seen it in the distant past, but rather… he’d seen it just seconds ago.
"The ground of the Garden of Spirits is particularly hard and also particularly fertile, so it's very suitable for plant growth." Gu Nan explained with a faint smile, "Few people know… that this is because this is not the ground at all, but the skin of a god."
As Gu Nan's words slowly fell, the three of them felt the ground shake, as if something under the ground had awakened.
No, it wasn’t quite right to call it under the ground. It was more accurate to say the ground itself was awakening.
"The first-generation Blacksmith God died at the hands of the second-generation God of Death, and he wasn't even a greater god at that time." Gu Nan's voice continued, "The very same God of Death who’s the ancestor of all necromancers."
……
In the eastern part of the Atalante continent, Daoist Lingyang slowly walked into a dilapidated church, which was covered in dust and seemed to have been untouched for a long time.
However, Daoist Lingyang was completely unconcerned, as if speaking to the empty church, "Lady Maria, please show yourself."
No one responded.
Daoist Lingyang gently drew a Daoist symbol with his finger and imprinted it on top of the church. A green light fell, and everything inside the church was revealed before his eyes.
Many officers and soldiers were lying strewn about in a corner of the church. Some of them were no longer breathing, but more were still letting out moans of pain.
After this scene was exposed, one of the head nuns finally got up helplessly and walked over to Daoist Lingyang.
"Your Excellency, I greet you with the highest respect." Sister Maria said with a lowered gaze, "We would love to serve you, but…"
"I don't need anything from you." Daoist Lingyang interrupted her, "I just need you guys to come forward."
……
Of course the Dark Empire had teleportation spells, so Claude could rush to the Garden of Spirits immediately.
However, when he actually arrived, he realized that things were not at all what he expected.
"What is… this?!"
In front of Claude was a dark-skinned giant hundreds of meters tall, holding an enormous hammer. He couldn’t sense any signs of life from it.
As one of the highest echelons of the Dark Empire, Claude was all too familiar with this kind of aura.
This was an undead creature!
But… How could there be such a powerful undead creature?
Every swing of the black giant's hammer caused Claude's heart to palpitate. This Archmage, who was called a "demigod" by the world, felt that just one swing of the hammer was enough to shatter all the bones in his body.
Of course, this feeling wasn’t an illusion, because he could clearly see who was fighting the black giant on the other side.
That athletic figure holding a golden spear was none other than the Wrestling Goddess!
‘An undead creature that can fight on equal ground with the Wrestling Goddess… How great would it be if we can control this undead?’
Claude couldn't help harboring such thoughts. Not even the Dark Emperor could possibly be a match for an existence of this level.
If handled properly, this would become the Dark Empire's incredible trump card, laying the foundation of the empire's rule for thousands of years.
However, right at this moment, a figure appeared behind Claude.
"Archmage Claude?"
Claude suddenly turned his head, only to find a white-robed youth looking at him with a smile. He couldn’t discern the other party's power level at all, but someone capable of silently appearing behind him couldn't be weak by any stretch of the imagination.
"Your Excellency is…"
Gu Nan chuckled. "Don't look at something you shouldn't see."
As soon as Gu Nan's voice fell, Claude felt his vision go dark, his head instantly blasted apart as a sliver of his soul awakened in another location.
This location was extremely hidden. It was neither the Dark Empire's palace nor Claude's own magic tower, but a place that seemed completely unrelated to him.
"What a close call…" Claude's consciousness, which woke up inside a body he prepared long in advance, still felt lingering fear.
He recalled the white-robed youth but couldn't figure out who it was at all. Was there such an existence among the gods who was also an acquaintance of the Wrestling Goddess?
Claude had no clue. But no matter what, with at least two gods descending on Atalante and that powerful undead creature, he had to send a message back as soon as possible.
However, a familiar voice rang in his ears just as he tried to get up.
"Lich?"
Claude's entire body jumped up. His face looked like he’d just seen a ghost, because this voice was exactly the same as the one from earlier.
Claude's mind raced as he said quickly, "Your Excellency, you cannot kill me! If I die, that one one will—"
The next second, he felt a sharp pain coming from the depths of his soul as his soul was instantly ripped to shreds.
Back at the Garden of Spirits, Karina was still fighting to her heart’s content, while David shot Gu Nan a suspicious look.
"Where did you go just now?"
Gu Nan stared at the black giant in front of him and said quietly, "The situation is a little different from what I expected… Time to call Lewis over for a stroll."
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