Chapter 197: Absorption 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"The ancient ruins on the Smoke Island in the Harp Sea are the largest ancient ruins that have been discovered to date. Only masters in telekinesis are able to accurately pinpoint the entrance of the island’s ancient ruins." Zhaoxing Qin said. "Rumor says that visitors on the island have disappeared without a trace recently. I’m guessing that thing has appeared again."
"What on earth is that thing?" Garen furrowed his eyebrows.
"The Black Smoke Pot. Legend says that it releases a black smoke that allows people to communicate with the dead. It is a relic left by the Ancient Endor civilization." Zhaoxing Qin looked at Garen, who seemed to want to ask something. "I know what you’re thinking. The answer is, I don’t know. There are a lot of Ancient Endor treasures but only a few of them had mystical effects. And even then, they are not reliable as the effect tends to fluctuate. Hence we are not sure if this Black Smoke Pot has such a mystical effect or not currently."
"How sure are you that Sylphalan will definitely be there?" Garen questioned.
"Definitely. He became strong because he wanted to resurrect my mother. There’s nothing more useful for that than the Black Smoke Pot." Zhaoxing Qin replied.
"Do you know when he will be there?" Garen asked again.
"I’m not sure about that. The entrance of ancient ruins on the Smoke Island can only be found during the night of a full moon, or it would be extremely difficult. The next full moon is about four months from now." Zhaoxing Qin explained. "The Smoke Island is located at the border of the Federation’s sea. It’s not that far, and if you’re really set on going, I suggest you set off a month before the full moon rises."
Garen understood very well that Zhaoxing Qin had no reason to bluff him. She had always been in the position of fighting against the Immortal Palace, as well as being in the position of the Old Man Gregor. Although she was not strong, she was very knowledgeable in the secrets buried by history.
"I understand the overall situation. How do I get to Smoke Island?"
"We can arrange the best boat for you if you depart from the Siberia Port. There are very little tourists there because the island is covered in mist most of the time. In addition to the rumor that the smoke on the island is poisonous, there are even less tourists once the mist is up. It’s good timing for you to do your business there." Zhaoxing Qin gave Garen the gave she had directly to him as she knew that he had already decided to go, no matter what.
"Alright, since we have more or less finished discussing, I should let my partners know of the matter as well." Garen stood up. "As allies who go against the Immortal palace, they will cover my back to ensure I’m safe. Similarly, while I don’t have the knowledge of telekinesis, it doesn’t mean my allies are in the same shoe as I."
"It was a memento from Gregor, which was a book that contained all of his telekinesis. Unlike the Eternal Starry Night Pendant that you’re currently wearing, it has an amazing ability to repel anything except the memento. It was also an item that Sylphalan attempted to get his hands on. However, he doesn’t really need this anymore since he had absorbed the Argent Mirror. Soon, I will pass this book to Julie and if possible, I hope you can take care of her."
Garen softly touched the pendant in front of his chest and nodded.
"I promise I will do everything within my power."
Zhaoxing Qin nodded and finally gave a sigh of relief even though she still felt extremely disappointed and dejected.
Both of them got up and left the stone chamber one after the other and went back into the stone room from before.
Andrela, Julie and King of Nightmares were gathered around the charcoal fire, having a soft, casual conversation. It looked like they had gotten closer within this short time span.
The three of them stopped the moment they saw Garen and Zhaoxing Qin came out of the chamber. Julie immediately stood up and looked at the book of potential which was in Zhaoxing Qin’s hand skeptically. As if she immediately thought of something, the girl who was about to speak out held herself back.
"I have performed my test towards Lord Garen and unfortunately, he doesn’t have the talent in telekinesis.." Zhaoxing Qin said in a deep tone. "With the request from Garen, I hope I can test both of you. Are you guys…"
"Of course. It’s just what we wished for." Andrela and King of Nightmares replied in sync.
Both of them seem to be very curious and excited about telekinesis.
"Alright then. Who shall go first?"
Andrela and King of Nightmares stared at each other and the latter pushed the former to the front.
"I will go first then." Andrela smiled leisurely.
After the simple explanation given by Zhaoxing Qin, with the same process as what Garen went through, he flipped the book softly as he took possession of the book of potential.
Unfortunately, there was no trace of changes to the pages and cover of the book.
Zhaoxing Qin shook her head.
Andrela couldn’t help but to feel disappointed.
"Please pass the book to this lady."
Andrela passed the book to the King of Nightmares. The latter took the book as she couldn’t help herself but to reveal her excitement and interest on her white and tender face.
As she grabbed hold of the book firmly and opened the first page.
The wordings on the cover of the book of potential slowly became red, as if fresh blood had crept across the cover page’s letters.
At the same time, the first page of the book started to become red as well, just like a book written in red ink.
"It’s reacting!" Garen and Andrela were staring at the King of Nightmares.
"Pale red, I see.. This level can be further categorised into three tiers." Zhaoxing Qin nodded. "Congrats miss, you indeed have the potential to learn telekinesis." Her reaction wasn’t excited as if this was a very common thing.
Judging the reactions from Julie and Zhaoxing Qin, the three of them knew that the King of Nightmare’s potential in telekinesis was fairly common and standard.
"Alright then. Miss, would you like to stay back and learn our style of the telekinesis battle strategy?" Zhaoxing Qin offered out of Garen’s reputation. Increasing the King of Nightmare’s strength meant that she was increasing the strength of the enemy of Immortal Palace. Furthermore, she was Garen’s ally.
"Battle strategy? Of course I’m very interested." The King of Nightmares licked his fingers with a strange look in his eyes. Whenever she did that gesture, it meant that she had some troublesome idea in his mind.
Andrela, who was off to the side, had a strong hunch. He remembered that the last time when he saw the King of Nightmares did the same gesture, he had been horrified that she attempted to transform into a man the next day and attacked him with all of her new techniques. He was so horrified that he didn’t dare touch her for the next few months.
"What are you planning to do this time?" Andrela quickly asked in panic.
"To be honest, I want to know how it feels like to absorb to Argent Mirror, rather than learning the telekinesis battle strategy…" King of Nightmares started laughing softly.
Zhaoxing Qin was not that surprised as she had already anticipated it.
"It might be too much for you to absorb the Argent Mirror. It’s a very dangerous thing to do."
"It is also very exciting as well." The King of Nightmares continued. "Do you think I am able to?"
"Yes. as long as you don’t regret it, any person who has potential in telekinesis is able to absorb it." Zhaoxing Qin said coldly. "A lot of people have actually tried it and without any exception, they either fail mid way through or became crazy."
She looked at the King of Nightmares coldly. "To be honest, your personality is very similar to of my mother, and hence I’m not surprised that you have made such a decision. However we may require some time as absorbing the Argent Mirror requires a lot of preparation."
"How much time do we need altogether?" The King of Nightmares whispered.
"About three days. There are some materials required which we would need to obtain from an old friend of mine, who lived very far away. So this is the earliest we can manage. We also need some materials to isolate the Argent Mirror to prevent any pollution if it leaks." Zhaoxing Qin calmly explained. "The price of the material will be borne by you since we don’t have any extra money laying around."
"That’s only natural." The King of Nightmares nodded in agreement.
"What should we do then?" Andrela looked at Garen, who was supposed to be the leader of the team as he was the strongest.
Garen shrugged his shoulders.
"If possible, I hope to stay here and have a deeper understanding of the fighting style of a telekinesis master. We have too little knowledge about Sylphalan and his gang since they have yet to show their telekinesis to us yet."
"I, too, think that to be advisable." Zhaoxing Qin nodded.
**************
Hence, for the next three days, Garen and his team decided to stay a hidden basement, secretly constructed from an entrance to a tomb.
It was spacious; so spacious that it had more than ten rooms. The rooms were quite clean as well, a janitor having obviously made some rounds in this place.
What was most surprising, however, was that this basement was connected to other basements, and there were outsiders who used these basements to deliver essential products and food to customers.
The whole basement was like an underground kingdom, or an underground social circle. Garen and his team found out from a few people that these basements were like nodes connecting to other nodes, forming a complete, labyrinthine system.
The two old men that the trio thought had killed visited them on the second day. They even provided some intel and news as thanksgiving. They thanked them for saving his life.
It was just as Zhaoxing Qin had said, they were perfectly fine. However, they looked rather pale as if they had lost quite a lot of blood.
When Andrela was bored, he followed Julie to a specially designed basement which contained an isolation field for training. The isolated field was a field created by telekinesis with a metal enhancement. It’s hardness and toughness were well above all the metals on the surface. Andrela tried slicing it with his sword with all his might but there was only a fine scratch on its surface. This was nothing to a wall that was nearly half a meter thick.
This made both of them able to train at ease.
On the other hand, Garen had been studying extensively anything related to telekinesis, including the knowledge in advancing the telekinesis’ strengths from the books. Although he didn’t have the talent in telekinesis, that didn’t stop him from obtaining knowledge.
As a person who once lived on Earth, he knew very well the importance of information. It was much easier to deal with a dangerous situation or formidable enemy when one understood well the enemy’s techniques and strengths, rather than not knowing what the future held.
Three days passed in a blink of an eye, and the King of Nightmares had gathered all the necessary materials with his money. Together with Zhaoxing Qin, he had spent up to a few hundred million in Pi dollar. This wealth was equivalent to a billion RenMinBi on Earth where Garen once lived.
With the cooperation of a few old men and Zhaoxing Qin, the ritual to absorb the Argent Mirror was finally finished.